UCSB   LIBRAKT 


EDITED    UNDER    THE    DIRECTION    OF    THE 

MISSIONARY  EDUCATION  MOVEMENT 

OF    THE    UNITED    STATES    AND    CANADA 


RISING  CHURCHES 
IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 


N.  B. — Special  helps  and  denominational  missionary  literature  for 
this  course  can  be  obtained  by  correspondence  with  the 
Secretary  of  your  mission  board  or  society. 


RISING  CHURCHES  IN 
NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

LECTURES  DELIVERED  ON 

THE    COLLEGE    OF    MISSIONS     LECTURESHIP, 
INDIANAPOLIS;     THE    SEVERANCE    LEC- 
TURESHIP, WESTERN  THEOLOGICAL 
SEMINARY,      PITTSBURGH 


Author  of  Unity  and  Missions,  The  Foreign  Missionary,   The  Why  and  Hoio 

of   Foreign   Missions,    Neiv     Forces  in    Old   China,     The    Chineit 

Re-volution,  The  New  Era  in  the  Philippines,  The 

Nearer  and  Farther  East  (Joint  Author) 


THE  METHODIST  BOOK  CONCERN 
NEW  YORK  CINCINNATI 


Copyright,  1915,  by 

MISSIONARY  EDUCATION   MOVEMENT  OF  THE 
UNITED  STATES  AND  CANADA 


TO  OUR  FELLOW  CHRISTIANS 
IN     NON-CHRISTIAN     LANDS 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

Preface xi 

I    The  People  among  Whom  the  Churches  are  Rising i 

II    Founding  the  Churches 23 

III  Temptations  and  Difficulties  of  the  Christian 51 

IV  Character  of  the  Christian  and  Resultant  Character  of 

the  Church 75 

V    Present  Strength  and  Influence  of  the  Church 99 

VI     Self-Support  and  Self- Propagation 127 

VII     Social  Service  and  Self -Government 155 

VIII    Relation  to  Missions  and  Western  Churches 183 

Bibliography 219 

Index 227 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Christianity  Versus  Heathenism 14 

Rev.  James  Gilmour 32 

Rev.  John  G.  Paton 32 

Rev.  Robert  Moffat 46 

Rev.  H.  H.  Jessup 46 

Li  Hung  Chang 62 

Yuan  Shi  Kai 62 

Korean  Women  Gathered  for  Bible  Study 80 

Korean  Men  Gathered  for  Bible  Study 80 

Paul,  Apostle  of  the  Congo 96 

Rev.  Majola  Agbebi 96 

Group  of  Lepers . 106 

Group  of  Insane 106 

Unique  Missionary  Offering,  Elat,  Africa 142 

Un  Ho,  the  Blind  Leper  Girl 150 

Dr.  Kerr's  Hospital  for  the  Insane 156 

Dr.  Miles'  School  for  Blind  Girls 156 

Tile  Factory,  Malabar  Coast 167 

Embroidery  Works,  Calcutta 167 

First  Men  Ordained  for  the  Presbyterian  Ministry  in  Korea. . .  178 

Rev.  K.  C.  Chatterjee 184 

Rev.  Ding  Li  Mei 184 

Chinese  Workers  in  City  Evangelization 188 

Ordained  Zulu  Pastors 188 

University  of  Nanking,  Seven  Denominations  Cooperating 

Science  Building 194 

Faculty  of  Language  School 194 

Student  Volunteers  for  Home  Missions 

Shantung  Christian  University 210 

University  of  Nanking 210 


PREFACE 

The  rise  of  Christian  Churches  in  non-Christian  lands 
is  the  most  inspiring  fact  of  the  present  age,  but  the 
problems  to  which  it  gives  rise  are  among  the  most 
difficult  that  the  Christian  student  has  to  solve.  They 
vitally  affect  the  conditions  under  which  mission  work 
must  now  be  conducted  and  involve  extensive  readjust- 
ments in  our  attitude  and  methods.  We  of  the  West 
should  carefully  study  these  rising  Churches  in  order 
that  we  may  aid  them  effectively,  guide  them  wisely, 
avoid  harmful  policies,  and  cooperate  harmoniously 
with  them  as  they  develop  independent  power.  Avail- 
able material  for  this  study  is  limited,  as  the  problem 
has  recently  emerged.  During  the  pioneer  period, 
when  converts  were  few  in  number,  widely  scattered, 
and  with  no  leaders  of  their  own,  the  problems  of  the 
Church  were  comparatively  simple.  Now,  by  the  bless- 
ing of  God  upon  missionary  work,  numerous  churches 
have  been  developed.  Christians  of  the  second  and 
third  generations  represent  increasing  stability.  Ca- 
pable leaders  are  appearing,  and  others  are  being 
trained  in  mission  schools.  The  churches  are  becoming 
conscious  of  unity  and  power. 

To  what  extent  do  our  methods  recognize  these 
facts?  What  is  the  character  of  our  fellow  Christian 
in  those  lands,  and  what  are  his  temptations  and  diffi- 
culties? Where  the  independence  of  the  churches 

xi 


xii  PREFACE 

should  be  recognized,  what  should  be  our  relation  to 
it?  What  progress  are  they  making  in  self-support? 
To  what  extent  do  they  realize  their  responsibility  to 
propagate  the  gospel  among  their  countrymen  and  to 
promote  the  kingdom  of  God  by  social  service?  How 
can  the  people  of  God  in  the  home  lands  most  effectively 
cooperate  with  their  brethren  in  non-Christian  lands 
for  the  furtherance  of  the  gospel  of  our  common  Lord? 
These  are  some  of  the  questions  which  call  for  our 
thoughtful  and  prayerful  consideration,  and  whose 
reflex  influence  upon  the  churches  in  Europe  and 
America  will  be  far-reaching. 

President  James  G.  K.  McClure,  of  Chicago,  on 
hearing  that  this  volume  was  in  preparation,  wrote: 
"I  want  you  to  know  that  I  realize  the  tremendousness 
of  your  task,  that  you  are  breaking  a  path  into  the 
midst  of  the  greatest  problems  Christianity  has  ever 
faced  and  that  I  am  eager  you  should  state  things  in 
a  large  way — in  the  same  generous,  encouraging,  de- 
veloping, welcoming  way  that  Christ  would  use  in  deal- 
ing with  the  people  and  communities  that  are  involved." 
I  dare  not  cherish  the  hope  that  I  have  succeeded  in 
meeting  this  high  test.  I  write,  not  as  a  teacher,  but 
rather  as  a  student  who  deeply  feels  the  importance  of 
the  subject  and  who  ventures  to  indicate  some  aspects 
of  a  problem  which  still  is  far  from  adequate  interpre- 
tation. 

The  proposed  use  of  this  volume  as  a  text-book  for 
mission  study  classes  has  limited  its  length  and  short- 
ened the  reference  to  some  phases  of  the  subject  which, 


PREFACE 


while  important  to  ecclesiastical  scholars  and  mission- 
ary administrators,  are  not  of  general  interest. 

ARTHUR  JUDSON  BROWN 

156  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York 
April  16,  1915 


THE  PEOPLES  AMONG  WHOM  THE 
CHURCHES  ARE  RISING 

Power  for  the  New  Life 

An  Unnoticed  Movement.  The  most  significant 
movement  in  non-Christian  lands  is  attracting  scant 
attention  from  a  preoccupied  world.  Politicians  and 
generals,  poets  and  scientists,  the  devotees  of  fashion 
and  amusement,  give  little  heed  to  the  small  groups  of 
Asiatics  and  Africans  who  worship  the  crucified 
Nazarene.  "No  more  did  the  statesmen  and  the  phi- 
losophers of  Rome  understand  the  character  and  issues 
of  that  greatest  movement  of  all  history,  of  which  their 
literature  takes  so  little  notice.  That  the  greatest  relig- 
ious change  in  the  history  of  mankind  should  have 
taken  place  under  the  eyes  of  a  brilliant  galaxy  of 
philosophers  and  historians,  and  that  they  should  have 
treated  as  simply  contemptible  an  agency  which  all 
men  must  now  admit  to  have  been,  for  good  or  evil, 
the  most  powerful  moral  lever  that  has  ever  been  ap- 
plied to  the  affairs  of  men,  are  facts  well  worthy  of 
meditation  in  every  period  of  religious  transition."  l 

This  movement  is  being  reproduced  in  our  day  in 
lands  of  which  the  early  disciples  had  never  heard. 
Humble  but  earnest  men  and  women  are  hearing  the 

'Lecky,  History  of  European  Morals,  Vol.  I,  359. 


2      RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

good  tidings  of  great  joy  which  shall  be  to  all  the 
people.  The  scenes  so  graphically  described  in  the 
New  Testament  are  being  reenacted  on  a  wider  scale 
throughout  the  mission  field  of  the  twentieth  century. 

Non-Christian  Peoples  Misjudged.  Our  first  inter- 
est naturally  centers  upon  the  peoples  of  the  non-Chris- 
tian world  who  form  the  material  from  which  the 
membership  of  the  Church  is  to  be  fashioned.  Is  that 
material  capable  of  transformation  by  the  gospel? 
Wrong  ideas  on  the  subject  were  almost  universal  until 
recent  years,  many  even  in  the  home  churches  holding 
that  "the  heathen"  were  not  undeveloped  races  but  "the 
rotten  product  of  decayed  civilizations"  with  which 
nothing  worth  while  could  be  done.  Juster  ideas  are 
beginning  to  prevail;  but  multitudes  in  America  still 
have  a  subconscious  feeling  that  missionary  work  is 
a  condescension  to  lower  orders  of  humanity.  This 
feeling  has  been  strengthened  by  superficial  travelers 
who  judge  by  western  standards  and  condemn  peoples 
who  fall  short. 

But  let  us  be  reasonable.  How  can  we  expect  men 
of  non-Christian  races  to  be  honest  and  humane  under 
conditions  which  have  long  fostered  dishonesty  and 
inhumanity,  to  be  chaste  when  unchastity  is  sanctioned 
by  general  custom,  and  to  exemplify  Christian  char- 
acter without  Christian  knowledge  ?  It  is  hard  enough 
for  us  to  keep  straight  with  the  help  of  all  the  incen- 
tives of  Christian  teaching  and  association.  When  we 
consider  the  absence  of  these  incentives  in  non-Chris- 
tian lands,  the  wonder  is  that  people  show  as  good 


THE  PEOPLES  3 

qualities  as  they  do.  It  took  Anglo-Saxons  many  cen- 
turies under  the  tutelage  of  Christianity  to  reach  their 
present  stage,  and  they  are  still  far  from  perfect.  Shall 
we  condemn  non-Christians  because  they  have  not  ac- 
quired in  less  than  a  century  without  such  tutelage 
what  we  but  imperfectly  exemplify? 

Our  Barbaric  Forebears.  It  is  easy  to  criticize 
people  who  differ  from  us,  forgetting  that  the  differ- 
ences may  be  largely  due  to  the  lack  of  advantages 
which  we  have  had  and  which  we  can  communicate  to 
them.  Pessimistic  prophecies  are  based  upon  past  con- 
ditions and  fail  to  take  into  account  the  regenerating 
forces  which  Christianity  is  now  bringing  into  play. 
The  qualities  that  have  given  preeminence  to  the  white 
man  did  not  characterize  him  when  he  was  found  by 
the  missionaries  .of  the  early  Church.  They  have  been 
bred  into  him  by  centuries  of  Christian  teaching.  Most 
of  the  non-Christian  nations  are  considerably  higher 
in  the  scale  of  civilization  and  achievement  than  Europe 
was  in  the  days  of  St.  Paul.  The  Teuton  in  the  time 
of  Julius  Caesar  was  far  more  barbarous  than  the 
Chinese  and  the  East  Indian  of  to-day.  Augustine  of 
Canterbury  found  no  such  orderly  society  in  England 
as  Morrison  found  in  China.  As  late  as  1678  the 
Highlanders  of  Scotland  were  "a  barbarous,  savage 
people  accustomed  to  rapine  and  spoil."  *  Boniface 
labored  in  Germany  among  more  lawless  tribes  than 
Carey  met  in  India.  Patrick  preached  in  Ireland  when 
the  Irish  were  as  savage  as  the  present  Kurds  of  the 

'Quoted  in  Henderson  and  Watt,  Scotland  of  To-day,  16. 


4      RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

Turkish  mountains.  "Look  unto  the  rock  whence  ye 
were  hewn,  and  to  the  hole  of  the  pit  whence  ye  were 
digged."  1  Christianity  may  do  as  much  for  other  races 
as  it  has  done  for  ours.  There  are  excellent  qualities 
in  the  people  of  every  field. 

If  we  may  adapt  the  words  of  Carlyle  in  his  Essay 
on  Burns :  "Wherever  there  is  a  sky  above  and  a  world 
around,  ...  is  man's  existence,  with  its  infinite 
longings  and  small  acquirings;  its  ever-thwarted,  ever- 
renewed  endeavors;  its  unspeakable  aspirations;  its 
fears  and  hopes  that  wander  through  eternity.  .  .  . 
The  mysterious  workmanship  of  man's  heart,  the  true 
light  and  the  inscrutable  darkness  of  man's  destiny, 
reveal  themselves  not  only  in  capital  cities  and  crowded 
saloons,  but  in  every  hut  and  hamlet  where  men  have 
their  abode.  ...  A  Scottish  peasant's  life  was  the 
meanest  and  rudest  of  all  lives  till  Burns  became  a  poet 
in  it,  and  a  poet  of  it;  found  it  a  man's  life  and  there- 
fore significant  to  men." 

Uplifting  Forces  Required.  Many  think  of  non- 
Christian  peoples  as  a  mass,  as  they  would  think  of  vast 
herds  of  cattle  or  shoals  of  fish.  Why  not  think  of 
them  as  individuals,  as  men  of  like  passions  with  our- 
selves ?  A  human  being  who  has  never  heard  of  Christ 
is  after  all  a  human  being.  He  has  the  same  hopes  and 
fears,  the  same  temptations  and  sorrows,  the  same 
capacity  for  happiness.  Are  we  not  told  that  God 
"hath  made  of  one  every  nation  of  men"?  We 
complacently  imagine  that  we  are  a  higher  order  of 
'Isa.  li.  i. 


THE  PEOPLES  5 

beings.  But  what  constitutes  superiority  of  race? 
Benjamin  Kidd  declares  that  "we  shall  have  to  set 
aside  many  of  our  old  ideas  on  the  subject.  Neither  in 
respect  alone  of  color,  nor  of  descent,  nor  even  of  the 
possession  of  high  intellectual  capacity,  can  science 
give  us  any  warrant  for  speaking  of  one  face  as 
superior  to  another."  High  character  is  the  result, 
not  so  much  of  anything  inherent  in  one  race  as  dis- 
tinguished from  another,  as  of  the  operation  upon  a 
race  of  certain  uplifting  farces.  Any  preeminence 
that  we  now  possess  is  due  to  the  action  of  these  forces. 
But  they  can  be  brought  to  bear  upon  other  races  as 
well  as  upon  us.  We  should  avoid  the  popular  mis- 
take of  looking  at  men  of  different  races  "as  if  they 
were  merely  animals  with  a  toilet,  and  never  see  the 
great  soul  in  a  man's  face."  x 

We  need  in  this  study  a  true  idea  of  the  worth  and 
dignity  of  man  as  man,  a  realization  that  under  brown, 
black,  and  yellow  skins  are  all  the  faculties  and  possi- 
bilities of  human  souls,  to  grasp  the  great  thought  that 
these  are  our  brother  men,  made  like  ourselves  in  the 
image  of  God.  Let  us  have  the  charity  that  sees  be- 
neath external  peculiarities  our  common  humanity, 
which  leads  us  to  respect  a  man  because  he  is  a  man; 
which,  no  matter  what  his  complexion  or  country,  no 
matter  to  what  degradation  he  has  fallen,  will  take 
him  by  the  hand  and  lead  him  to  a  higher  plane.  We 
need  an  enthusiasm  for  humanity  which  shall  not  be 
sentimental  rhetoric,  but  a  catholic  love  for  one  who  is 

'George   Eliot. 


6      RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

"Heir  of  the  same  inheritance, 
Child  of  the  self-same  God; 
He  hath  but  stumbled  in  the  path 
We  have  in  weakness  trod." 

Ruskin  reminds  us  that  the  filthy  mud  in  the  street 
is  composed  of  clay,  sand,  soot,  and  water;  that  the 
clay  may  be  purified  into  the  radiance  of  the  sapphire ; 
that  the  sand  may  be  developed  into  the  beauty  of  the 
opal;  that  the  soot  may  be  crystallized  into  the  glory 
of  the  diamond,  and  that  the  water  may  be  changed 
into  a  star  of  snow.  So  man  in  Asia  as  well  as  in 
America  may,  by  the  transforming  power  of  the  Spirit 
of  God,  be  ennobled  into  the  dignity  of  divine  sonship. 
We  shall  get  along  best  with  the  non-Christian  if  we 
remember  that  he  is  not  a  different  species  and  that  he 
differs  from  us,  not  in  the  fundamental  things  that 
make  for  manhood,  but  only  in  the  superficial  things 
that  are  the  result  of  environment.  From  this  view- 
point, we  can  say  with  Shakespeare: 

"There  is  some  sort  of  goodness  in  things  evil, 
Would  men  observingly  distil  it  out." 

A  Discarded  Word.  I  put  the  word  "heathen"  in 
quotation  marks  because  I  think  it  should  be  aban- 
doned; not  because  its  original  meaning  is  less  true, 
but  because  popular  usage  has  added  an  element  of 
contempt  which  has  made  it  not  only  inappropriate  but 
highly  offensive  to  intelligent  Asiatics,  and  therefore 
a  hindrance  to  our  Christian  approach  to  them.  Those 
who  still  cling  to  the  contemptuous  idea  may  profit- 
ably recall  thai  when  the  misanthropic  Scrooge,  in 


THE  PEOPLES  7 

Dickens's  Christmas  Carol,  says  of  the  poor  and  suf- 
fering: "If  he  be  like  to  die,  he  had  better  do  it  and 
decrease  the  surplus  population,"  the  Ghost  sternly  re- 
plies :  "Man,  if  man  you  be  at  heart,  not  adamant,  for- 
bear that  wicked  cant  until  you  have  discovered  what 
the  surplus  is  and  where  it  is.  Will  you  decide  what 
men  shall  live,  what  men  shall  die?  It  may  be  that  in 
the  sight  of  heaven,  you  are  the  most  worthless,  and 
less  fit  to  live  than  millions  like  this  poor  man's  child." 

Typical  Peoples 

Chinese.  Consider  some  of  the  typical  peoples  of 
the  non-Christian  world.  The  Chinese  will  probably 
be  deemed  the  most  conspicuous  example.  I  need  not 
repeat  here  what  I  have  written  regarding  them  in  two 
other  books.1  Their  industry,  their  persistence,  their 
genius  for  scholarship  and  business,  and  the  remark- 
able skill  and  energy  with  which  they  carried  through 
a  gigantic  political  revolution  have  challenged  the  re- 
spect of  mankind.  They  are  coming  to  the  front  in 
many  lines  of  activity.  Chinese  students  take  high 
honors  in  our  proudest  American  universities.  Sir 
David  Barbour  of  Great  Britain,  at  a  monetary  con- 
ference of  world  experts  on  finance,  declared  that  "the 
representative  of  China  in  this  conference,  Dr.  Chen, 
is  distinctively  a  younger  man  than  any  of  us,  but 
when  it  comes  to  ability  or  knowledge  of  the  subject, 
he  is  the  peer  of  us  all." 

The    Hon.    John    W.    Foster,    formerly    American 
*New  Forces  in  Old  China  and  The  Chinese  Revolution. 


8      RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

Secretary  of  State,  expresses  the  opinion,  in  his  Intro- 
duction to  the  Memoirs  of  Li  Hung  Chang,  that  the 
last  one  hundred  years  have  produced  many  men  of 
scholarship,  several  great  generals,  a  number  of 
statesmen  of  distinguished  ability  and  success,  and  a 
few  diplomats  of  high  rank;  but  that  no  one  of  these 
can  be  singled  out  as  having  combined  in  his  person 
all  these  attainments  in  such  an  eminent  degree  as  Li 
Hung-chang.  His  successor  in  the  Vice-royalty  of 
Chihli  and  now  the  President  of  the  Republic,  Yuan 
Shih-kai,  is  everywhere  conceded  to  be  one  of  the  most 
masterful  men  of  the  present  world  generation — a  born 
leader  of  men. 

Japanese.  The  Japanese  were  regarded  fifty  years 
ago  as  an  obscure  and  weak  "heathen"  nation.  They 
certainly  are  not  obscure  to-day,  and  if  one  regards 
them  as  weak  he  can  secure  some  heartfelt  information 
by  inquiring  of  Russians.  I  need  not  enlarge  upon  the 
characteristics  of  a  people  that  are  probably  better 
known  to  western  nations  than  any  other  of  the  peoples 
of  the  non-Christian  world.  We  all  recognize  their 
progressive  spirit,  their  civil  and  military  efficiency,  the 
marvelous  skill  with  which  they  are  adapting  them- 
selves to  the  conditions  of  the  new  era,  passing,  almost 
in  a  single  generation,  from  the  period  of  antiquity  to 
the  period  of  modern  life.  Vices  they  undoubtedly 
have ;  so  have  we ;  but  they  are  a  virile,  energetic,  and 
ambitious  people,  a  recognized  power  in  the  far  East, 
and  a  factor  in  international  relationships  which  is  not 
ignored  in  the  cabinets  of  Europe  and  America. 


THE  PEOPLES  9 

East  Indians.  Are  the  peoples  of  India  uncivilized? 
India  had  a  voluminous  written  literature  and  had 
studied  the  heavens  accurately  enough  to  calculate  the 
solar  year  2,000  B.  C. ;  had  worked  out  a  science  of 
mathematics,  a  scheme  of  philosophy,  and  an  art  of 
music  with  its  seven  notes  500  B.  C. ;  and  had  written 
a  Sanskrit  grammar,  still  used  by  scholars,  350  B.  C. 
When  America  was  a  wilderness  and  the  Pilgrim 
Fathers  were  beginning  their  struggle  to  subdue  it,  the 
Emperor  Shah-Jehan  (reigned  1628-1658)  built  the 
magnificent  Palace-Fort  at  Delhi  with  its  wonderful 
Pearl  Mosque  and  its  Audience  Hall  with  the  Peacock 
Throne,  adorned  with  emeralds,  sapphires,  rubies,  and 
diamonds  which  the  jeweler  Tavernier  valued  at  $35,- 
000,000;  and  when  his  favorite  wife  died,  he  toiled 
seventeen  years  with  twenty  thousand  workmen  at  a 
cost  of  ten  million  dollars  to  build  her  tomb,  a  tomb 
before  which  the  artists  and  architects  of  the  twentieth 
century  stand  in  wonder,  delight,  and  awe,  a  dream  in 
marble  and  precious  stones,  the  most  beautiful  struc- 
ture the  world  has  ever  seen — the  glorious  Taj  Mahal. 
That  the  East  Indians  of  the  twentieth  century  are  not 
degenerate  descendants  of  nobler  days  many  a  mis- 
sionary and  British  civil  service  administrator  can 
testify.  There  are  thousands  of  intelligent,  cultivated 
gentlemen  in  India.  Schools  and  universities  are 
crowded  with  bright  pupils,  and  the  Nobel  Prize  for 
Literature  for  1913  was  bestowed  upon  Rabindranath 
Tagore,  a  Hindu  poet  of  Bengal. 

Of  the  lower  classes  Sir  Andrew  H.  L.  Eraser,  who 


10    RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

spent  a  generation  in  India,  writes:  "It  is  not  difficult 
to  win  the  hearts  of  these  kindly,  simple  people:  they 
have  a  wonderful  way  of  winning  ours.  It  is  worth 
while  to  get  among  them  and  help  them  to  mitigate 
their  sorrows  or  increase  their  happiness.  ...  To 
me  it  was  always  a  touching  spectacle  to  see  a  band  of 
pilgrims  on  their  way  to  Jaganath's  temple  at  Puri. 
They  were  going  to  fulfil  some  vow,  to  give  thanks 
for  some  special  blessing.  They  would  come  some- 
times, nearly  a  whole  village  together,  for  hundreds  of 
miles  with  their  bullocks  and  carts  and  their  families 
and  go  singing  down  the  road  the  praises  of  their 
god.  They  had  looked  forward  to  this  pious  journey 
for  years  and  expected  much  blessing  from  it.  Often 
they  would  return  weary  and  well-nigh  stripped  of  all 
they  had  by  the  rapacious  priests  and  temple  servants. 
Often  some  of  them  fell  victims  to  cholera  and  other 
ills  incident  to  pilgrim  life  in  India.  Sometimes  they 
had  not  even  obtained  a  satisfactory  view  of  the 
strangely  unlovely  idol  they  had  gone  to  see.  But 
they  were  going  back  to  their  old  life,  loyal  and  patient 
as  ever,  not  understanding  why  things  had  not  been 
made  brighter  for  them,  but  not  complaining.  In  much 
of  their  life  we  cannot  help  these  people;  but  we  can 
at  least  sympathize  with  them,  and  we  can  hardly  help 
loving  them  when  we  know  them  well."  l 

Koreans.  The  Koreans  appear,  at  first  glance,  to 
be  most  unpromising  material.  They  lack  the  energy, 
initiative,  and  ambition  of  the  Japanese,  and  the 

1Among  Indian  Rajahs  and  Ryots,  182,  183. 


THE  PEOPLES 

thrift,  industry,  and  strength  of  the  Chinese.  The 
visitor  usually  enters  from  Japan,  and  the  contrast  is 
painful.  The  villages  are  a  squalid  collection  of  mush- 
room hovels.  The  streets  are  crooked  alleys  and 
choked  with  filth,  except  where  the  Japanese  have  en- 
forced a  semblance  of  cleanliness.  Some  travelers  have 
accepted  this  first  impression  as  final. 

Two  visits  to  Korea  and  long  relationship  to  mis- 
sionary work  there  have  given  me  a  different  opinion. 
The  upper  classes  are  as  a  rule  degenerate,  but  the 
common  people  are  robust.  Their  courage  is  high,  as 
they  have  repeatedly  shown,  though  lack  of  organiza- 
tion, competent  leadership,  and  the  weapons  and  meth- 
ods of  modern  warfare  make  them  helpless  as  a  nation. 
Mentally  they  develop  quickly  under  education. 
Korean  children  are  remarkably  bright  scholars. 

During  a  journey  through  the  interior  we  passed 
through  scores  of  villages  far  from  the  beaten  track  of 
travel,  ate  in  native  huts  and  slept  in  native  inns,  with 
our  luggage  piled  in  the  open  courtyard.  The  people 
were  inquisitive,  following  us  through  the  streets, 
crowding  about  us  at  every  stop,  and  peering  through 
every  door  and  crevice.  But  not  once  was  insolence 
shown,  and  not  a  penny's  worth  was  stolen.  Every- 
where we  were  treated  respectfully  and  with  genuine 
hospitality.  The  best  that  a  village  afforded  was  placed 
at  our  disposal,  and,  while  prices  were  never  excessive, 
the  people  often  refused  to  receive  any  payment.  We 
usually  sent  word  ahead,  so  that  accommodations  might 
be  ready  for  us ;  and  whenever  we  did  so,  groups  would 


12     RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

walk  out  several  miles  to  meet  us,  sometimes  in  a  heavy 
rain.  The  customary  salutation  was  a  smiling  inquiry : 
"Have  you  come  in  peace?"  and  when  we  left,  the 
people  escorted  us  some  distance  on  our  way,  and  then 
courteously  bade  us  good-by  in  the  words :  "May  you 
go  in  peace!"  These  were  usually  Christians,  but 
we  saw  multitudes  who  were  not,  and  while  they  were 
more  unkempt  than  the  Christians,  they,  too,  were 
invariably  kind  and  respectful.  He  must  be  a  callous 
man  who  could  not  love  such  a  people  and  long  to  help 
them  to  higher  levels  of  thought  and  life. 

Siamese.  The  Siamese  are  not  deemed  one  of  the 
strong  peoples  of  Asia,  but  Siamese  students  abroad 
have  no  difficulty  in  maintaining  equality  with  for- 
eigners in  the  classroom.  When  they  first  went  to  the 
famous  Harrow  School  in  England,  the  head  master 
said  to  Mr.  Verney :  "You  are  trying  an  extraordinary 
experiment  in  sending  young  Siamese  to  Harrow,  and 
you  are  wonderfully  sanguine  in  supposing  that  they 
can  adapt  themselves  to  our  public  school  life;"  but 
shortly  before  his  death,  he  spoke  of  the  remarkable 
success  they  had  achieved  and  said  that  there  was  not 
a  master  at  Harrow  who  would  not  gladly  welcome 
them  to  his  house. 

Turks.  The  Turks  are  often  spoken  of  as  the  least 
responsive  of  all  the  peoples  to  the  influences  that  make 
for  character.  But  whatever  corruption  there  may  be 
among  the  official  and  wealthy  classes,  the  Turkish 
peasant  is  a  brave,  hardy  man,  and,  though  he  may  be 
roused  to  fanatical  fury,  he  is  ordinarily  peaceable, 


THE  PEOPLES  13 

industrious,  and  hospitably.  Children  of  upper  and 
lower  classes  alike,  when  trained  in  mission  schools, 
often  develop  wonderfully.  The  Rev.  Charles  R.  Wat- 
son says  that  he  met  "a  figure  in  Turkish  costume, 
which  covers  the  entire  head  and  face  and  conies  down 
just  over  the  shoulders — a  thick  impenetrable  veil.  .  .  . 
The  exclamation  is  forced  to  one's  lips:  'Here  is  the 
unchangeable  Orient  with  its  stamp  of  degradation 
upon  womanhood !'  Then  we  step  into  a  mission  build- 
ing. The  missionary  introduces  us  to  this  young  wom- 
an. She  throws  back  her  veil.  What  do  we  see? 
Beautiful  brown  eyes!  Beautiful  tresses  of  brown 
hair!  A  voice  that  is  clear  and  musical.  She  is  the 
author  of  several  books;  and  in  the  recent  war  she 
gathered  a  few  women  of  kindred  spirit  about  her  and 
went  to  the  front  to  minister  to  the  sick  and  wounded. 
She  may  not  call  herself  a  Christian,  but  you  would 
not  call  her  a  Moslem.  She  has  attended  the  American 
Girls'  College  at  Constantinople,  and  the  spirit  of  Chris- 
tianity has  been  breathed  into  her  soul.  One  goes  his 
way  after  such  an  experience  wondering  whether  be- 
neath other  impenetrable  veils  there  may  not  be  others 
like  Halideh  Hanem." 

Filipinos.  A  visit  to  the  Philippines  impressed  me 
with  the  attractiveness  of  the  Filipinos.  Among  de- 
lightful memories  are  receptions  at  Iloilo,  Dumaguete, 
and  Manila,  where  hundreds  of  well-dressed,  pleasant- 
faced  people  welcomed  us  with  a  grace  far  removed 
from  barbarism.  A  Filipino  residence  in  which  a 
social  function  was  held  had  spacious  drawing-rooms, 


14    RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

lofty  ceilings,  and  rich  furniture.  The  top  of  the  din- 
ing-room table  was  a  single  slab  of  beautiful  marble, 
six  feet  in  width  and  twenty-two  feet  in  length.  The 
floors  were  of  polished  native  woods,  and  the  doors 
and  other  woodwork  were  of  solid  mahogany.  The 
wild  tribes  of  the  interior  mountains  are  indeed  sav- 
ages. Some  of  them  are  head-hunters,  and  all  are  con- 
siderably lower  in  the  scale  of  civilization  than  the 
people  in  the  larger  towns  and  along  the  coast.  But 
the  Hon.  Dean  C.  Worcester  assured  me  that  they  are 
responsive  to  kindness,  and  that,  ignorant  and  degraded 
as  they  are,  they  might  be  raised  by  wise  and  patient 
effort  to  a  much  higher  level  of  life.  Let  us  give  them 
a  chance,  some  decades  of  fair  treatment,  of  just  laws, 
of  modern  political  and  educational  methods,  and  of  a 
pure  Protestant  faith,  and  I  believe  that  they  will 
justify  the  hopes  of  their  well-wishers  rather  than  the 
sneers  of  their  detractors.  Said  Senor  Felipe  Buen- 
camino:  "The  heart  of  the  Filipino  is  like  his  fertile 
soil,  and  it  will  as  surely  repay  cultivation.  Sow  love 
and  you  will  reap  love.  Sow  hatred  and  hatred  will 
grow." 

Africans.  Africans  are  considered  as  types  of  the 
lowest  races.  But  the  Rev.  George  L.  Mackay,  of 
Formosa,  told  a  Canadian  audience  that,  "after  hav- 
ing gone  around  the  globe  once  and  being  now  half 
way  round  again,  I  declare  that  some  of  the  best  men 
I  ever  met  were  black- faced,  thick-lipped,  and  woolly- 
headed  Negroes."  Of  the  raw  tribes  of  the  west  coast 
Miss  Mary  Kingsley  wrote,  after  careful  observation : 


THE  PEOPLES  15 

"These  Africans  have  often  a  remarkable  mental  acute- 
ness  and  a  large  share  of  common  sense.  I  confess  I 
like  the  African  on  the  whole,  a  thing  I  never  expected 
to  do  when  I  went  to  the  coast  with  the  idea  that  he 
was  a  degraded,  savage,  cruel  brute."  l  When  a  great 
congregation  saw  the  body  of  David  Livingstone  laid 
to  rest  in  historic  Westminster  Abbey,  none  in  that  dis- 
tinguished throng  were  regarded  with  greater  respect 
than  the  black  men  who  had  faithfully  borne  the  sacred 
form  on  their  shoulders  through  forests  and  rivers, 
across  plains  and  over  mountains,  in  toil  and  hunger 
and  weariness,  in  danger  of  savage  beasts  and  still 
more  savage  men,  until  they  had  delivered  their  sacred 
charge  to  their  white  brothers  in  England. 

Burmans.  Say  the  worst,  if  one  will,  about  any 
people.  The  Burman,  for  example,  is  among  the  hard- 
est of  men  to  influence  with  the  Christian  message. 
He  is  haughty,  cruel,  fond  of  theatricals  and  gaudily- 
colored  garments.  He  regards  work  as  beneath  him. 
His  Buddhistic  teaching  against  the  taking  of  life  does 
not  trouble  him  in  the  least,  for,  he  argues,  he  does  not 
kill  the  fish  he  eats:  they  merely  die  when  he  takes 
them  out  of  the  water.  He  "dries"  them  on  mats  in 
the  sun,  pounds  them  to  a  paste,  adds  a  little  salt,  drains 
off  the  oil,  spreads  the  paste  on  his  rice,  and  eats  it 
with  keen  relish.  We  shall  never  forget  the  odor  of 
those  decaying  fish.  In  spite  of  his  laziness,  his  poverty, 
his  shiftlessness,  and  the  ease  with  which  a  handful  of 
white  men  have  defeated  him  in  war  and  a  few  thou- 

lTravels  in  West  Africa,  439,  653. 


16     RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

sand  Chinese  have  made  themselves  masters  of  his 
trade,  he  is  one  of  the  most  self-satisfied  of  mortals, 
proudly  regarding  himself  as  superior  to  all  other  races. 
He  smokes  his  cigaret,  chews  his  betel,  eats  his  "fra- 
grant" fish,  lounges  in  his  bamboo  hut,  and  is  calmly 
indifferent  to  the  rest  of  the  world ! 

Let  us  be  careful  in  our  judgment,  however.  These 
people  are  not  the  only  conceited  ones  on  earth.  There 
are  some  in  America.  Nor  do  we  have  to  travel  half- 
way around  the  world  to  find  the  indolent  and  the  care- 
less. Burmese  women  are  notably  strong  and  capable. 
They  are  not  secluded  like  the  women  of  India.  They 
freely  mingle  with  men  and  usually  attend  to  the  busi- 
ness matters  of  the  family.  Drunkenness  and  opium 
smoking  among  all  classes  are  not  so  common  as  the 
former  is  in  England  and  the  latter  in  China;  but,  un- 
fortunately, both  are  increasing  under  the  influence  of 
the  European  in  one  case  and  the  Chinese  in  the  other. 
Most  foreigners  in  Asia  and  Africa,  outside  of  the 
missionary  circle,  drink  heavily  and  the  native  soon 
learns  to  imitate  them.  The  Burman  has  qualities 
which,  when  developed  by  the  gospel,  make  him  a 
strong  man. 


The  Human  Quality.  Everywhere,  even  in  the  most 
unlooked-for  places,  one  finds  the  human  quality.  I 
noticed  a  woman  in  an  Asiatic  hamlet.  Her  garments 
were  cheap  and  coarse.  Her  hands  were  roughened 
by  toil.  Her  features  were  heavy,  her  eyes  dull.  She 


THE  PEOPLES  17 

was  evidently  a  common,  ignorant  peasant.  A  sleeping 
baby  beside  her  wakened  and  began  to  fret.  The 
woman  took  the  child  in  her  arms  and,  indifferent  to 
onlookers,  gave  the  little  one  her  breast.  As  the  babe 
nestled  against  her  bosom  and  contentedly  began  to 
nurse,  the  hard  lines  in  the  mother's  face  softened. 
The  dull  eyes  grew  softly  bright.  The  countenence 
was  suffused  with  tenderness.  And  lo!  I  saw  the 
transfiguration  of  womanhood. 

Our  train  stopped  twenty  minutes  at  an  interior 
station  in  Japan.  We  strolled  up  and  down  the  long 
platform.  It  ran  beside  and  a  little  above  a  row  of 
humble  dwellings.  The  weather  was  warm  and  doors 
were  open.  It  was  evening,  and  the  lighted  interiors 
were  clearly  visible.  A  woman  was  preparing  a  simple 
meal.  The  husband  and  father,  apparently  a  laborer, 
came  wearily  in  from  his  daily  toil.  A  child  joyfully 
ran  to  meet  him.  He  caught  the  little  fellow  in  his 
arms,  tossed  him  on  his  shoulder,  crouched  on  the 
floor  while  the  boy  gleefully  climbed  upon  his  back — 
father  and  son  laughing  as  they  romped  together,  while 
the  mother  looked  up  from  her  work  with  joy  and 
pride.  It  was  plainly  the  home  of  poverty,  but  as 
plainly  the  home  of  affection  and  happiness.  And 
we,  who  could  not  but  see,  thought  of  the  dear  ones 
far  away  and  felt  that  we  were  kin  to  the  Japanese 
toiler  who  loved  his  lowly  home  and  this  little  child. 

Christian  Dynamic  Needed.  We  would  not  give 
an  exaggerated  idea  of  non-Christian  peoples.  Multi- 
tudes are  stolid  and  ignorant.  The  defects  and 


18    RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

vices  which  characterize  parts  of  the  populations  of 
Europe  and  America  characterize  a  far  larger  pro- 
portion of  the  populations  of  Asia  and  Africa.  Lying, 
gambling,  stealing,  immorality,  official  corruption, 
although  by  no  means  universal,  are  so  general  as  to 
form  racial  traits.  Some  professed  Christians  are  not 
good  men;  but  the  normal  expectation  is  that  the 
average  Christian  is  a  man  of  personal  purity  and 
integrity,  and  if  public  opinion  learns  that  he  is  not, 
it  condemns  him.  Some  Hindus,  Buddhists,  and  Mos- 
lems are  men  of  personal  purity  and  integrity;  but 
the  normal  expectation  is  that  the  average  man  of 
these  faiths  is  not,  and  public  opinion  accepts  this  as 
a  matter  of  course.  The  first  chapter  of  St.  Paul's 
Epistle  to  the  Romans  is  still  an  accurate  description 
of  the  vices  of  the  non-Christian  world. 

But  the  difference,  we  reiterate,  between  Asia  and 
America  is  due  to  moral  teaching,  not  to  inferiority 
in  type.  It  proves  that  "the  heathen"  have  the  failings 
of  our  common  humanity  wherever  Christian  influ- 
ences have  not  transformed  it.  The  typical  Chinese 
or  Persian,  from  the  view-point  of  character,  is  the 
same  kind  of  a  person  as  the  typical  white  man  was 
before  Christianity  changed  him.  While  some  un- 
converted white  men  have  been  so  molded  by  a  Chris- 
tian environment  that  their  lives  are  exceptional,  every 
city  in  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  contains 
elements  that  are  as  wicked  and  degraded  as  one  can 
find  in  the  cities  of  Japan  and  China.  Men  who 
reject  an  offered  Christ,  who  know  the  better  and 


THE  PEOPLES  19 

choose  the  worse,  are  beneath  the  level  of  earnest- 
minded  pagans  who  have  never  heard  of  Christ  and 
who  if  they  had  heard  of  him,  might  have  accepted 
him. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  talk  about  the  sins  of  the  non- 
Christian  world  as  if  they  were  peculiar  to  it.  The 
sins  of  Mekka  and  Lassa  and  Yunnanfu  are  precisely 
the  same  as  the  sins  of  Glasgow,  Montreal,  and  Phila- 
delphia. The  essential  difference  in  these  two  groups 
of  cities  lies  in  the  fact  that  one  group  has  a  powerful 
counteracting  force  in  a  strong  and  long-established 
Christian  Church,  while  the  other  has  no  such  coun- 
teracting force.  Indiscriminate  condemnation  of  non- 
Christian  peoples  is  therefore  unjust.  We  send 
missionaries  to  them,  not  as  saints  to  sinners  or  as 
superiors  to  inferiors,  but  as  men  to  their  fellow  men 
who  share  our  common  need  of  divine  help.  "For 
right  judgment  of  any  man,"  said  Carlyle,  "it  is 
useful,  nay  essential,  to  see  his  good  qualities  before 
pronouncing  on  his  bad."  The  bad  qualities  are  due 
to  sin,  and  sin,  like  smallpox,  is  a  world  disease.  Those 
who  have  learned  to  prevent  its  ravages  are  under  at 
least  as  heavy  a  moral  obligation  to  disseminate  the 
remedy  as  physicians  were  to  disseminate  the  knowl- 
edge of  vaccination  and  treatment. 

Crushing  Toil  and  Wretchedness.  The  pathos  of 
life  in  non-Christian  lands  is  great.  The  prevailing 
wretchedness  appalls  an  American  who  goes  back  into 
the  unmodified  conditions  of  the  interior  or  even  into 
the  old  proud  Chinese  city  of  Shanghai.  As  I  jour- 


20     RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

neyed  through  vast  throngs,  climbed  hilltops,  and 
looked  out  upon  the  innumerable  villages  which  thickly 
dotted  the  plains  as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach,  as  I 
saw  the  unrelieved  pain,  the  crushing  poverty,  and 
the  abject  fear  of  evil  spirits,  I  felt  that  in  China  is 
seen  in  literal  truth  "The  Man  with  the  Hoe." 

"Bowed  by  the  weight  of  centuries,  he  leans 
Upon  his  hoe  and  gazes  on  the  ground, 
The  emptiness  of  ages  in  his  face, 
And  on  his  back  the  burden  of  the  world." 

"In  certain  occupations  in  China  men  are  literally 
killing  themselves  by  their  exertions.  The  term  of  a 
chair-bearer  is  eight  years,  or  a  ricksha  runner  four 
years;  for  the  rest  of  his  life  he  is  an  invalid.  A1 
physician  in  Fukien,  who  had  examined  some  scores  of 
carrying-coolies,  told  me  she  found  but  two  who  were 
free  from  the  heart  trouble  caused  by  burden-bearing. 
In  Canton  even  the  careless  eye  marks  in  the  porters 
that  throng  the  streets  the  plain  signs  of  overstrain; 
faces  pale  and  haggard,  with  the  drawn  and  flat  look 
of  utter  exhaustion;  eyes  pain-pinched,  or  astare  and 
seeing  only  with  supreme  effort :  jaw  sagging  and 
mouth  open  from  weariness.  The  dog-trot,  the  whis- 
tling breath,  the  clenched  teeth,  the  streaming  face  of 
those  under  a  burden  of  one  or  two  hundredweight 
that  must  be  borne  are  as  eloquent  of  ebbing  life  as 
a  jetting  artery.  In  a  few  years,  the  face  becomes 
a  wrinkled,  pain-stiffened  mask,  the  veins  of  the  upper 
leg  stand  out  like  great  cords,  a  frightful  net  of 
varicose  veins  blemishes  the  calf,  lumps  appear  at  the 


THE  PEOPLES  21 

back  of  the  neck  or  down  the  spine,  and  the  shoulders 
are  covered  with  thick  pads  of  callous  under  a  livid 
skin."  x 

Compassionate  View.  These  people  are  not  a  dis- 
tinct species,  but  human  beings  meeting  our  common 
temptations,  bearing  our  common  burdens,  needing 
our  common  knowledge  of  God  in  Christ,  and  forming 
the  material  out  of  which  divine  grace  is  fashioning 
a  regenerated  Church.  Let  us  view  them  in  the  spirit 
of  Catherine  of  Sienna,  who  "asked  and  received  of 
God  the  gift  of  seeing  the  possible  loveliness  of  hu- 
manity even  in  its  ruins — the  statue  in  the  marble." 

We  shall  be  helped  in  doing  this  if  we  consider  the 
attitude  of  Jesus  toward  men.  He  was  profoundly 
impressed  by  the  pathos  of  human  life.  He  knew  its 
joys  and  could  rejoice  with  people  in  their  happier 
hours,  as  he  did  at  the  marriage  in  Cana  of  Galilee; 
but  he  felt  the  deep  undertone  of  human  life — its 
poverty,  its  anxiety,  its  sickness,  and  its  yearning  for 
something  better. 

Matthew  says  that  when  the  Son  of  man  "saw 
the  multitudes,  he  was  moved  with  compassion." 
Compassion!  compatio,  literally  to  suffer  with  an- 
other; so  that  we  might  freely  translate:  When  he 
saw  the  weary,  heavy-laden  multitudes,  he  was  so 
deeply  moved  that  he  suffered  with  them,  "because 
they  were  distressed  and  scattered  as  sheep  not  having 
a  shepherd."  Another  rendering  conveys  the  idea 
that  the  sheep  had  wandered  away  from  the  fold,  had 

JE.  A.  Ross,  The  Changing  Chinese,  84,  85. 


22     RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

been  attacked  by  wolves  until  they  were  torn  and 
bleeding,  and  that  there  was  no  shepherd  to  defend 
them.1  A  vivid  picture  this  of  the  non-Christian 
world;  men,  women,  and  children  wandering  in  a 
wilderness  of  sin  and  sorrow,  groping  blindly  in  pain 
and  uncertainty,  exposed  to  grievous  temptations 
which  may  well  be  personified  by  wolves.  It  is  a  torn 
and  bleeding  humanity.  And  as  Jesus  sees,  he 
"suffers."  If  he  charged  his  disciples  to  go  with  tender 
ministries  to  the  comparatively  small  number  of  suf- 
fering people  whom  they  knew,  how  much  more 
solemnly  imperative  is  his  summons  to  us  to  minister 
in  his  name  to  the  far  vaster  hosts  that  are  now 
accessible?  Many  of  them  are  waiting  in  anxious 
expectation  for  a  message  of  deliverance,  and  we  shall 
see,  as  we  proceed  with  this  book,  how  they  receive 
the  good  tidings  of  the  gospel  with  eagerness  of  heart 
and  great  joy.  In  the  noble  words  of  Whittier: 

"Give  human  nature  reverence  for  the  sake 
Of  One  who  bore  it,  making  it  divine 
With  the  ineffable  tenderness  of  God; 
Let  common  need,  the  brotherhood  of  prayer, 
The  heirship  of  an  unknown  destiny, 
The  unsolved  mystery  round  about  us,  make 
A  man  more  precious  than  the  gold  of  Ophir."  * 


'Matt.  ix.  36.  *  "Among  the  Hills." 


II 

FOUNDING  THE  CHURCHES 

Founding  the  Church.  The  main  object  of  the  for- 
eign missionary  enterprise  is  to  establish  the  Church1 
in  each  non-Christian  land.  At  this  point  or  in  this 

JThe  term  church  is  used  rather  indiscriminately,  in  popular 
usage,  for  a  religious  service,  a  dedicated  building,  a  congrega- 
tion, a  denomination,  a  body  sacramentally  defined,  and  the  whole 
number  of  believers  in  a  given  country  or  in  the  world.  This  book 
is  not  intended  to  be  a  treatise  on  controverted  points  of  church 
organization,  but  a  practical  study  of  believers  in  non-Christian 
lands  who  have  accepted  Christ  as  Savior  and  Lord  and  who 
have  banded  themselves  together  for  the  worship  of  God,  for 
observance  of  the  sacraments,  for  mutual  helpfulness,  and  for  the 
outreaching  work  of  the  Church  in  the  world.  Such  an  applka- 
tion  of  the  word  is  not  scientifically  adequate  nor  ecclesiastically 
satisfactory,  but  it  may  serve  our  present  need.  We  are  to 
consider  young  Churches  that  have  not  had  time  to  assume 
permanent  form,  and  that  have  been  established  by  missionaries 
of  many  different  communions  amid  conditions  which  compelled 
the  adoption  of  some  temporary  methods.  We  must  use  the 
term  Church  somewhat  loosely  as  indicating  the  various  forms 
in  which  the  body  of  Christ  is  beginning  to  manifest  itself  in 
the  non-Christian  world,  however  imperfectly  constituted  they 
may  be  at  this  time.  Further  reference  to  the  subject  is  made 
in  chapter  XVII  of  the  author's  volume  entitled  Unity  and  Mis- 
sions. If  the  reader  wishes  to  look  up  the  Bible  use  of  the  word, 
he  will  find  a  variety  of  references,  such  as :  "the  ecclesia"  or 
the  "called  out"  (Matt.  xvi.  18),  the  "flock"  (John  x.  16;  Acts 
xx.  28;  I  Peter  v.  2),  "the  branch"  (John  xv.  5),  "the  household 
of  the  faith"  and  "of  God"  (Gal.  vi.  10;  Eph.  ii.  19,  20),  "a 
spiritual  house"  (i  Peter  ii.  5),  "God's  building"  (i  Cor.  iii.  9-11), 

23 


24     RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

respect  foreign  missionary  work  differs  from  the  work 
of  the  churches  at  home.  Our  task  is  to  give  the  gospel 
to  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  our  own  country. 
As  new  generations  are  continually  coming  on,  as  con- 
verts are  to  be  trained  for  Christian  life  and  service, 
and  as  many  applications  of  Christianity  to  society  are 
involved,  the  work  of  the  Church  at  home  will  never  be 
completed.  In  the  foreign  field,  it  is  our  task  to  found 
the  Church,  and  then  to  induce  it  to  assume  those  duties 
for  the  further  evangelization  of  the  population  that  we 
have  assumed  for  our  own  people.  Christians  in 
Canada  and  the  United  States  must  support  their  own 
ministers,  build  every  church  edifice,  erect  and  equip 
every  school  and  hospital,  conduct  every  form  of  allied 
service  for  the  poor,  dependent,  and  defective  classes, 
and  carry  through  every  social  reform.  It  would  be 
impossible  for  us  to  do  this  for  the  billion  people  of  the 
non-Christian  world,  and  the  foreign  missionary  enter- 
prise does  not  contemplate  such  an  undertaking.  We 
are  to  start  the  Church,  show  it  how  to  do  its  work,  and 
turn  over  responsibility  to  it  as  fast  as  it  is  able  to 
receive  it.  This  ultimate  aim  should  be  kept  steadily  in 
view  and  should  influence  all  missionary  methods  and 
activities.  Otherwise,  exceptional  cases  may  drift  us 
into  policies  which  will  harm  rather  than  help.  If  the 
Church  is  not  established,  the  toil  of  the  missionary 
will  result  only  in  detached  individuals  who  will  not 


''the  bride"  (Rev.  xxi.  9),  "the  body"  of  Christ  (Col.  i.  18,  24; 
Eph.  i.  22,  23),  "the  church  of  the  living  God,  the  pillar  and 
ground  of  the  truth"  (i  Tim.  iii.  15),  etc. 


FOUNDING  THE  CHURCHES  25 

attain  maturity  of  faith  and  character  and  who  will 
neither  perpetuate  themselves  nor  exert  decisive  in- 
fluence upon  the  world.  No  nation  will  ever  become 
Christian  until  it  has  a  firmly  established  Church  of 
its  own.  "God's  great  agent  for  the  spread  of  his  king- 
dom is  the  Church.  In  every  land  he  operates  through 
the  Church,  and  missions  exist  distinctly  for  the 
Church.  They  have  both  their  source  and  their  aim  in 
that.  They  are  the  reproductive  faculty  of  the  parent 
Church,  the  constituting  agency  of  the  infant  Church. 
Every  Church  should  work  out  into  a  mission;  every 
mission  should  work  out  into  a  Church."  *  We  shall 
discuss  in  a  later  chapter  the  implications  of  this  prin- 
ciple. 

The  conditions  amid  which  the  Church  had  to  be 
founded  in  the  mission  field  must  be  borne  in  mind  if 
we  are  rightly  to  estimate  the  magnitude  of  the  under- 
taking. These  conditions  were  even  more  difficult  than 
those  which  confronted  St.  Paul  in  the  first  century  of 
the  Christian  era. 

Contrast  with  Paul.  Some  critics  of  modern  mis- 
sions are  fond  of  comparing  the  modern  missionary 
with  St.  Paul.  They  imagine  that  something  is  wrong 
because  he  appears  to  be  less  successful.  Such  critics 
overlook  the  fact  that  St.  Paul  was  not  a  foreign  mis- 
sionary at  all,  as  that  term  is  now  used.  By  birth,  by 
language,  by  citizenship,  by  ways  of  thinking,  and  by 
manners  and  customs,  Paul  was  of  the  same  nation  as 
the  people  to  whom  he  preached.  It  is  true  that  he  was 

'Edward  A.  Lawrence,  Modern  Missions  in  the  East,  31. 


26    RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

a  Jew  whose  chief  ministry  was  to  Gentiles ;  but  Judea 
was  then  an  integral  part  of  the  Roman  Empire,  and 
Paul  openly  proclaimed  that  he  was  a  Roman  citizen.1 
The  population  of  the  United  States  is  a  conglomerate 
of  Anglo-Saxons,  Germans,  Scandinavians,  Italians, 
and  various  other  nationalities;  but  would  any  one 
contend  that  Theodore  Roosevelt  is  not  an  American 
because  his  ancestry  was  Dutch,  or  that  Francis  L. 
Patton  is  foreign  to  a  New  York  congregation  because 
he  was  born  in  Bermuda  and  has  never  been  naturalized 
in  the  United  States?  Paul  was  a  Roman  citizen 
preaching  to  the  peoples  of  his  own  country.  In  other 
words,  from  the  view-point  of  our  missionary  termi- 
nology, .he  was  a  native  minister  rather  than  a  foreign 
missionary.  Unlike  the  modern  missionary,  he  did 
not  go  to  the  people  of  his  generation  as  an  alien.  He 
did  not  have  to  spend  years  in  learning  their  language 
or  to  struggle  all  through  his  ministry  with  difficulties 
of  accent  and  idiom.  His  influence  was  not  crippled 
by  inability  to  understand  the  view-point  of  his  hear- 
ers. He  knew  them,  not  as  an  American  knows 
Asiatics,  but  as  an  Asiatic  knows  Asiatics.  Nor  was 
Paul  unable  to  live  on  the  scale  of  the  people  of  the 
country  in  which  he  worked;  wherever  he  went  he 
could  live  as  a  native  and  preach  without  salary  because 
he  was  in  his  own  country  and  able  to  support  himself 
by  working  at  his  trade  as  a  tent-maker. 

In  all  of  these  particulars,  the  twentieth  century  mis- 
sionary is  seriously  handicapped  in  ways  from  which 

JActs  xxii.  27. 


FOUNDING  THE  CHURCHES  27 

Paul  was  either  wholly  or  largely  free.  The  white 
man  in  Asia  is  an  alien,  an  exotic,  transplanted  there 
at  great  expense,  maintained  with  difficulty,  obliged 
to  have  many  things  that  the  native  minister  does  not 
require,  forced  to  economize  on  a  salary  of  $1,200, 
where  a  native  clergyman  lires  comfortably  on  $150, 
and  living,  thinking,  and  speaking  on  a  plane  so  widely 
different  from  that  of  the  people  that  the  chasm  be- 
tween them  can  be  seldom  bridged. 

The  contention  that  Paul  found  a  prepared  people 
among  the  Jews  cannot  indeed  be  pressed  very  far, 
for  most  of  the  Jews  rejected  his  teachings  and  the 
Gentile  races  were  substantially  in  the  same  moral  and 
intellectual  state  as  the  Asiatics  of  to-day.  Making 
all  due  allowance  for  this,  however,  the  general  fact 
remains  that  the  Old  Testament  teaching  of  one  true 
God  and  the  coming  of  a  Messiah  had  been  carried  by 
the  Jews  of  the  dispersion  to  every  part  of  the  known 
world,  and  that  the  synagogue  offered  a  convenient 
place  for  the  proclamation  of  the  fulfilment  of  proph- 
ecy. Moreover,  in  the  average  city  that  Paul  visited, 
he  found  one  or  more  devout  souls  who  were  eagerly 
waiting  for  "the  consolation  of  Israel."  The  Acts  of 
the  Apostles  graphically  describes  how  Paul  availed 
himself  of  this  foundation  work  and  what  a  good  start- 
ing-point it  gave  him.  But  what  a  dull  incomprehen- 
sion of  the  unity  and  personality  of  God  the  modern 
missionary  met,  what  perverted  preemption  of  the  Mes- 
sianic idea  he  encountered  in  Buddha  and  Confucius 
and  Mohammed,  and  what  weary  years  he  had  to  spend 


28    RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

before  he  could  effect  in  even  a  few  minds  a  lodgment 
of  those  truths  which  lay  ready  to  Paul's  hand !  Many 
a  missionary  whose  .spirituality  and  devotion  were  be- 
yond question  toiled  for  anxious  years  before  he  suc- 
ceeded in  bringing  even  one  Chinese  to  the  point  where 
Paul  found  a  Lydia,  a  Dionysius,  and  the  men  of 
Bercea  who  "received  the  word  with  all  readiness  of 
mind,  examining  the  scriptures  daily  whether  these 
things  were  so."  Missionaries  were  endeavoring  to 
communicate  totally  new  ideas  to  peoples  who  had 
been  made  sodden  and  apathetic  by  an  inheritance  of 
centuries  of  the  rankest  heathenism.  It  is  difficult  for 
us  who  were  born  and  bred  in  a  Christian  land  and 
who  have  been  familiar  with  the  gospel  from  our  in- 
fancy to  understand  how  hard  it  is  for  the  Oriental 
mind  to  grasp  the  new  conceptions  which  Christianity 
inculcates.  We  need  to  remember  that  our  own  an- 
cestors were  slow  in  grasping  them,  and  that  more  than 
one  or  two  centuries  passed  before  Christianity  was 
clearly  understood  even  by  the  Anglo-Saxons.  It  is 
not  surprising,  therefore,  that  the  superstition-clouded 
Asiatic  listened  apathetically  and  deemed  the  mission- 
ary "a  setter  forth  of  strange  gods." 

It  is  clear  that  Paul  had  advantages  in  approaching 
the  men  of  Corinth  and  Athens  that  are  not  enjoyed  by 
a  Pennsylvanian  who  attempts  to  approach  the  Hindus 
of  Benares  or  the  Chinese  of  Peking.  The  modern 
missionary  had  no  such  advantage,  but  had  to  begin 
among  a  people  who  were  not  only  totally  ignorant  of 
the  true  God  but  who,  in  many  places,  appeared  to  be 


FOUNDING  THE  CHURCHES  29 

quite  unable  to  conceive  of  a  Supreme  Being  in  terms 
of  personality.  The  notion  of  one  God  with  attributes 
of  holiness,  justice,  and  mercy,  lovingly  interested 
in  the  individual  man  however  humble,  was  utterly 
foreign  to  the  Japanese,  the  Chinese,  and  the  East 
Indians.  Some  of  them  indeed  -had  a  vague  concep- 
tion of  a  Supreme  Being,  but  it  was  so  vague  and  shad- 
owy that  they  did  not  recognize  its  relationship  to  their 
daily  lives.  The  lower  classes  thought  of  a  supreme 
power  in  terms  of  innumerable  demons,  usually  malig- 
nant in  character  and  besetting  man  at  every  turn  with 
evil  intent. 

It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  when  the  mis- 
sionaries spoke  of  God  in  the  Christian  sense,  the  people 
gave  them  stolid  and  uncomprehending  attention. 
Curiosity  to  see  the  stranger  with  his  peculiar  dress 
and  color  often  drew  a  wondering  crowd.  Sometimes 
men  would  gather  about  a  missionary  as  the  men  of 
Athens  gathered  about  St.  Paul  and  say  in  effect : 
"Thou  bringest  certain  strange  things  to  our  ears:  we 
would  know  therefore  what  these  things  mean."  l  But 
when  the  message  was  explained,  the  result  was  apt 
to  be  even  more  discouraging  than  in  the  case  of  Paul, 
for,  while  many  would  contemptuously  speak  of  the 
missionary  as  "this  babbler,"  seldom  was  the  mission- 
ary gladdened  because  "certain  men  clave  unto  him, 
and  believed." 

Slowly  and  laboriously  the  seed  had  to  be  -sown. 
Even  yet,  Christ  is  unknown  to  a  large  part  of  the 

JActs  xvii.  20. 


30    RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

non-Christian  world  and  most  of  those  who  have  heard 
of  him  know  him  only  in  such  a  general  way  as  Amer- 
icans have  heard  of  Mencius  or  Zoroaster,  without  any 
real  understanding  of  his  character  and  mission. 
What  little  they  do  know  of  him  as  a  historical  per- 
sonage is  beclouded  and  distorted  by  the  hostile  pre- 
sumptions of  age-old  prejudices,  superstitions,  and  spir- 
itual apathies.  In  such  circumstances,  to  make  Christ 
intelligently  known  is  apt  to  be  a  long  and  perhaps  a 
wearisome  effort.  The  first  missionaries  in  India  and 
China  toiled  seven  years  before  their  hearts  were  glad- 
dened by  a  single  convert.  Fifteen  laborious  years 
passed  in  South  Africa  before  the  first  Zulu  accepted 
Christ,  and  twenty  years  in  Mongolia  before  visible 
results  appeared.  After  the  non-Christian  mind  once 
fairly  grasps  the  new  truth,  progress  usually  becomes 
more  rapid ;  but  at  first  and  sometimes  for  long  periods 
it  is  apt  to  be  painfully  slow.  The  missionary  and  the 
Church  that  supports  him  often  have  need  of  patience. 
Lines  of  Work.  Varying  conditions  influence  the 
form  of  work  that  is  given  prominence  in  a  particular 
field.  The  missionary  usually  began  with  evangelistic 
work,  freely  using  with  it  tracts  and  Bible  portions, 
and  developing  schools  and  hospitals  as  auxiliaries  as 
rapidly  as  possible.  In  fields  where  conditions  rendered 
this  method  impracticable,  the  missionary  began  with 
medical  or  educational  work.  However  fiercely  the 
people  might  oppose  public  preaching,  they  might  be 
willing  to  send  their  children  to  a  school  and  their  sick 
to  a  hospital.  The  missionary  made  no  compromise, 


FOUNDING  THE  CHURCHES         31 

for  he  caused  it  to  be  understood  that  pupils  and  pa- 
tients would  hear  of  Christ.  But  desire  for  education 
or  healing  was  so  strong  that  in  many  lands  medical 
and  educational  work  gained  a  foothold  for  Christ. 
Prejudices  were  softened,  sympathies  won,  and  avenues 
of  approach  opened  to  relatives  and  friends.  Personal 
work  with  individuals  gradually  created  conditions 
which  rendered  possible  the  assembling  of  little  groups 
of  people  in  private  houses  for  religious  instruction; 
and  at  last  the  time  came  when  the  missionary  could 
erect  a  chapel  and  hold  public  services.1 

Several  Pioneer  Heroes.  The  story  of  begin- 
nings is  a  fascinating  one.  The  lives  of  such  pioneer 
workers  as  Martyn  in  Persia,  Morrison  in  China, 
Carey  and  Duff  in  India,  Judson  in  Burma,  Tyler  in 
South  Africa,  Gilmour  in  Mongolia,  Hepburn  and. 
Verbeck  in  Japan,  Livingstone  in  Africa,  Paton  in  the 
South  Sea  Islands,  McGilvary  in  Siam,  and  others  that 
might  be  mentioned  are  readily  accessible  and  vividly 
describe  the  early  days  of  toil  and  hardship  and 
danger.  In  reading  such  accounts,  one's  attention  is 
naturally  concentrated  on  the  missionary,  and  he  is 
deeply  stirred  as  he  reads  of  the  perils  that  had  to  be 
undergone.  Think  of  Judson  and  Price  lying  for  a 
year  and  seven  months  in  a  foul  Burmese  prison, 
chained  so  that  they  could  move  only  with  difficulty, 
breathing  hot,  fetid  air,  herded  with  native  criminals 


'For  a  description  of  the  missionary  at  work,  compare  Chapter 
V  of  the  author's  volume,  The  Why  and  How  of  Foreign 
Missions. 


32     RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

of  the  lowest  class,  and  without  food  except  as  Mrs. 
Judson,  long  after  her  money  was  exhausted,  begged 
it  for  them  like  a  mendicant  from  house  to  house, 
adopting  native  dress  to  lessen  the  probability  of  insult. 

But  while  such  experiences  are  worthy  of  all  the 
sympathy  that  they  have  received,  how  little  thought  is 
given  to  the  first  native  Christians,  among  whom  such 
sufferings  were  far  more  common  than  among  mission- 
aries. 

Receptive  Peoples 

The  readiness  with  which  non-Christian  peoples  re- 
ceived the  gospel,  and  the  rates  of  growth,  were  natu- 
rally affected  by  the  various  conditions  which  pre- 
vailed and  particularly  by  the  characteristics  of  the 
people.  Speaking  broadly  and  with  due  allowance  for 
exceptions,  the  simpler  peoples,  many  of  whom  are 
animistic,  like  those  in  Africa  and  the  South  Sea 
Islands,  have  responded  with  comparative  eagerness  to 
the  gospel  message.  Lacking  a  strong  national  organ- 
ization, destitute  of  political  power,  accustomed  for  cen- 
turies to  the  domination  of  aliens,  and  looking  up  to 
them  as  superior  beings,  they  accept  more  readily  the 
leadership  of  the  missionary.  Their  low  stage  of  civil- 
ization made  the  knowledge  of  the  foreigner  more 
wonderful  to  them.  Their  temperaments  also  are  apt 
to  be  childlike  in  type,  capable  of  swift  reversals  of 
feeling,  readily  excited  by  what  they  do  not  understand, 
and  prone  to  surges  of  emotion.  Their  native  religions 
are  not  firmly  entrenched  in  established  cults  and 
powerful  hierarchies.  Poverty  and  oppression,  too, 


FOUNDING  THE  CHURCHES  33 

have  often  begotten  a  longing  for  relief  and  a  hope  that 
the  missionary  can  secure  it  for  them.  Such  conditions 
create  a  state  of  receptivity. 

Comparative  Conditions.  The  soil  of  a  country  like 
Korea  as  compared  with  China  was  like  a  western 
prairie  ready  for  the  plow  of  the  husbandman.  It  is 
not  surprising  that,  when  such  people  once  turn  to 
Christ,  they  come  rapidly.  This  rapidity,  while  occa- 
sion for  great  thanksgiving,  is  not  without  its  dangers, 
for  easily  roused  feelings  sometimes  subside  almost 
as  quickly  as  they  rise.  Very  touching,  however,  are 
the  wistfulness  and  sincerity  with  which  the  gospel  is 
sometimes  received. 

Two  missionaries  went  to  a  village  in  which  the  gos- 
pel had  never  been  preached.  It  was  noised  abroad  that 
they  had  come,  and  practically  the  whole  population 
gathered.  The  interest  was  so  great  that  the  meeting 
continued  until  a  late  hour.  Finally,  the  missionaries- 
pleaded  weariness  after  a  hard  day's  journey,  and  were 
shown  into  an  adjoining  room  for  the  night.  But  the 
people  did  not  go  away,  and  the  murmuring  of  their 
voices  kept  the  missionaries  from  sleeping.  Along 
about  two  o'clock,  one  of  them  went  back  and  said 
almost  impatiently:  "Why  don't  you  go  home  and  go 
to  sleep?  It  is  very  late  and  we  are  tired."  The  head 
man  of  the  village  answered:  "How  can  we  sleep? 
You  have  told  us  that  the  Supreme  Power  is  not  an 
evil  spirit  trying  to  injure  us  but  a  loving  God  who 
gave  his  only  begotten  Son  for  our  salvation,  and  that 
if  we  will  turn  from  our  sins  and  trust  in  him,  we 


34    RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

shall  have  deliverance  from  our  fears,  guidance  in  our 
perplexities,  comfort  in  our  sorrows,  and  a  life  forever 
with  him.  How  can  we  sleep  after  a  message  like 
this?"  How  could  they  indeed?  And  the  mission- 
aries, forgetting  their  weariness,  sat  down  by  those 
poor  people  and  communed  with  them  until  the  morn- 
ing dawned. 

Beginnings  in  Korea.  And  yet,  in  even  such  a 
country,  the  pioneer  missionaries  did  not  have  by 
any  means  an  easy  task.  While  the  Rev.  Horace 
G.  Underwood  baptized  the  first  Korean  believer 
within  two  years  after  his  arrival  and  organized  the 
first  church  within  three  years,  only  seven  persons 
gathered  about  the  Lord's  table  at  the  initial  admin- 
istration in  his  house,  Christmas  day,  1887.  After  ten 
years  of  patient  labor  by  the  missionaries  of  several 
denominations,  there  were  still  only  141  baptized  Chris- 
tians in  all  Korea.  Beginnings  in  Pingyang,  now  so 
famous,  gave  little  promise  of  the  future  success. 
When  the  Rev.  Samuel  A.  Moffett  arrived  in  1889  he 
found  a  few  inquirers  and  a  native  evangelist  who  had 
been  sent  from  Seoul.  But  he  also  found  a  city  notori- 
ous for  drunkenness  and  vice.  The  first  Christians 
shone  like  stars  amid  that  murk  of  sin.  One  of  them 
was  a  man  by  the  name  of  Kim  Chung-sik.  Brought 
by  a  friend  to  a  missionary  in  Seoul,  he  was  converted, 
and  in  1894  was  sent  to  Pingyang  to  aid  Dr.  M.  J. 
Hall,  the  Methodist  missionary  there.  But  by  this 
time  opposition  had  become  violent.  Persecution  broke 
out,  and  Kim  was  one  of  the  first  to  be  arrested.  He 


FOUNDING  THE  CHURCHES  35 

and  other  Christians  were  cruelly  beaten,  placed  in 
stocks,  and  warned  that  if  they  did  not  give  up  the  for- 
eigner's religion  they  would  be  punished  still  more 
severely.  The  others,  in  their  pain  and  terror,  yielded ; 
but  Kim  remained  steadfast.  He  was  taken  to  the 
death  cell,  but  though  believing  that  he  would  be  de- 
capitated if  he  did  not  recant,  he  exclaimed  in  a  spirit 
worthy  of  the  ancient  martyrs :  "God  loves  me  and 
has  forgiven  my  sins.  How  can  I  curse  him?  The 
foreigner  is  kind  and  pays  me  honest  wages;  why 
should  I  forsake  him?"  Fortunately,  orders  came 
from  Seoul  to  release  the  prisoners,  and  the  mangled 
and  half-dead  Kim  went  out  with  the  others.  His 
fidelity  made  a  profound  impression  upon  the  city,  and 
people  began  to  say  that  there  must  be  something  real 
in  the  new  religion  when  a  man  was  willing  to  suffer 
so  much  for  it. 

Response  of  the  Karens.  The  response  of  the 
Karens  of  Burma  was  a  notable  one.  They  are  de- 
scendants of  a  people  who  originally  migrated  into 
Burma  from  the  western  part  of  China,  forced  out  by 
the  ever-advancing  Chinese.  They  are  a  simple-minded 
people  who,  before  the  arrival  of  the  British,  suffered 
much  from  the  cruelty  of  their  strong  neighbors. 
There  has  been  much  speculation  as  to  where  and  how 
the  Karens  obtained  some  of  the  traditions  which  they 
jealously  guard  and  hand  down  from  generation  to 
generation.  This  folk-lore  apparently  points  to  an 
earlier  knowledge  of  the  Biblical  narrative,  for  it  in- 
cludes tales  of  the  creation  of  woman  from  the  rib  of 


36    RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

the  first  man,  of  the  sin  of  the  first  man  and  the  first 
woman,  of  the  wrath  of  God  on  account  of  transgres- 
sion, and  of  his  promise  to  send  deliverance  and  happi- 
ness through  "white  foreigners"  who  were  to  come 
"in  ships  from  the  west." 

These  traditions  afforded  a  remarkable  preparation 
for  the  gospel  message.  The  proclamation  of  Christ 
seemed  to  these  poor,  oppressed  people  the  fulfilment 
of  their  long-cherished  dreams.  It  is  not  surprising, 
therefore,  that  mission  work  made  swift  progress 
among  the  Karens.  The  first  convert,  Ko  Tha  Byu, 
baptized  by  Dr.  Boardman  at  Tavoy,  May  16,  1828, 
proved  the  first-fruits  of  a  mighty  harvest.  He  was 
a  remarkable  man.  He  had  already  attained  middle 
life;  he  had  no  education;  and  appeared  to  have  rather 
a  dull  mind.  When  roused,  however,  his  temper  was 
furious.  He  was  notorious  for  robbery  and  violence, 
no  less  than  thirty  murders  having  been  ascribed  to 
him.  The  Holy  Spirit  wrought  an  extraordinary 
change  in  this  man.  He  immediately  gave  himself 
wholly  to  Christian  work  and  soon  wielded  such  re- 
markable power  over  his  people  that  he  became  known 
as  the  Karen  Apostle. 

A  British  official,  who  knew  the  Karens  well, 
writes :  "Forty  years  ago  they  were  a  despised,  grovel- 
ing, timid  people,  held  in  contempt  by  the  Burmans. 
At  the  sound  of  the  gospel  message  they  sprang  to  their 
feet,  as  a  sleeping  army  springs  to  the  bugle-call.  The 
dream  of  hundreds  of  years  was  fulfilled  ;  the  God  who 
had  cast  them  off  for  their  unfaithfulness  had  come 


FOUNDING  THE  CHURCHES  37 

back   to   them;   they    felt   themselves   a   nation   once 
more." 

Some  Animistic  Barriers.  We  would  not  give  the 
impression  that  there  are  no  obstacles  to  be  encoun- 
tered among  animistic  peoples.  Conversion  involves 
too  great  a  change  to  come  easily  anywhere.  Fetish 
worship  and  the  superstition  which  supports  it  are 
formidable  deterrents.  Indolence,  superstition,  dirt, 
the  apathy  of  despair,  the  oppression  of  the  literary 
class,  and  the  demoralizing  example  of  officials  heavily 
reenforce  the  ever-present  influences  of  the  world,  the 
flesh,  and  the  devil.  The  human  heart  is  not  any  more 
prone  to  spiritual  things  in  Korea  and  Africa  than 
elsewhere.  Nevertheless,  these  simpler  peoples  have 
proved  more  responsive  to  the  gospel  than  most  peoples 
of  other  types. 

Larger  Cults  Hard  to  Move 

Buddhist  and  Hindu  peoples,  like  the  Burmans, 
Siamese,  East  Indians,  Chinese,  and  Japanese,  present 
greater  obstacles,  especially  where  caste  is  involved  as 
in  India,  Confucian  ancestral  worship  as  in  China,  and 
Shintoism  in  Japan.  If  animistic  peoples  may  be  com- 
pared to  a  western  prairie,  these  peoples  may  be  com- 
pared to  the  wilderness  which  the  first  American  set- 
tlers found  in  New  England,  where  weary  years  had 
to  be  spent  in  clearing  the  forest,  uprooting  stumps,  and 
blasting  out  stones.  Religion  in  most  of  these  lands 
is  represented  by  powerful  establishments  with  numer- 
ous and  costly  temples,  countless  shrines,  elaborate  cere- 


38    RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

monials,  innumerable  priests.  Characteristics,  too, 
differ  widely  from  those  of  animistic  peoples.  They 
are  conservative  to  the  last  degree,  devoted  to  ancient 
customs  of  iron  rigidity. 

Chinese  Immobility.  The  Chinese,  vast  in  numbers, 
proud  of  their  enormous  area,  phlegmatic  in  tempera- 
ment, materialistic  in  thought,  strong  in  their  dislike 
of  everything  foreign,  were  stiff  soil  for  the  planting 
of  the  gospel  seed. 

Hindu  Caste  and  Mysticism.  The  Hindus  of  India 
unite  to  equal  pride  of  race  a  caste  system  which 
hardens  superstitious  customs  into  iron  molds.  Their 
temperament,  too,  the  reverse  of  the  Chinese,  is  mys- 
tical, speculative,  and  philosophic,  fond  of  endless  dis- 
putations and  evaporating  concrete  ideas  into  clouds 
of  pantheistic  mysticism.  The  devoted  Henry  Martyn, 
after  heroic  labors,  almost  despairingly  exclaimed:  "If 
I  should  live  to  see  one  Brahman  genuinely  converted 
to  Christianity,  it  would  be  to  me  as  great  a  miracle  as 
if  a  man  should  rise  from  the  dead." 

Japanese  Nationalism.  The  Japanese  have  the  most 
intense  national  feeling  of  all  non-Christian  peoples, 
sustaining  a  feudal  organization  of  government  and 
society  until  the  latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
and  developing  a  national  solidarity  which  involves 
an  almost  complete  submergence  of  the  individual  in 
the  mass  of  the  nation.  When  the  first  Protestant 
church  was  organized  with  eleven  members  in  Yoko- 
hama, March  10,  1872,  public  notice  boards  were  still 
standing  that  contained  the  inscriptions :  "The  evil  sect 


FOUNDING  THE  CHURCHES  39 

called  Christian  is  strictly  prohibited."  "So  long  as 
the  sun  shall  continue  to  warm  the  earth  let  no  Chris- 
tian be  so  bold  as  to  come  to  Japan."  Christ  was 
branded  as  the  Christian  criminal  God,  and  Dr.  Griffis 
says  that  mothers  stilled  their  crying  children  by  threat- 
ening them  with  the  name  of  Jesus.  As  late  as  1884  a 
letter  was  sent  from  Kyoto  addressed  "To  the  four 
American  barbarians — Davis,  Gordon,  Learned,  and 
Greene."  In  it  were  these  sentences :  "You  have  come 
from  a  far  country,  with  the  evil  religion  of  Christ 
and  as  slaves  of  the  robber  Neesima.  .  .  .  Those 
who  brought  Buddhism  to  Japan  in  ancient  times  were 
killed.  But  we  do  not  wish  to  defile  the  soil  of  Japan 
with  your  abominable  blood.  Hence  take  your  fam- 
ilies and  go  quickly." 

Burmese  Buddhism.  The  Burmese  combination  of 
pride  and  indolence  has  been  referred  to  on  a  preced- 
ing page.  The  Anglican  Bishop  of  Calcutta,  after 
a  visit  to  Burma  in  1870,  wrote:  "The  difficulties  of 
Buddhism  are  extreme.  Every  one,  lay  and  clerical, 
speaks  of  them  as  even  greater  than  those  of  Hindu- 
ism and  Mohammedanism." 

Siamese  Indolence  and  Pride.  In  Siam,  as  in  Burma 
and  the  Philippines,  tropical  climate  and  prolific  nature 
reduce  wants  and  beget  indolence.  People  need  little 
clothing  and  no  fuel  except  for  cooking.  Fish  teem 
in  the  innumerable  streams.  The  banana,  coconut, 
betel,  mango,  pomelo,  orange,  jack- fruit,  and  lime 
grow  with  little  or  no  cultivation,  and  the  simplest  til- 
lage brings  abundant  yields  of  rice  and  vegetables. 


40    RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

As  for  a  house,  one  can  be  built  of  the  ever-present 
bamboo  and  thatched  with  attap1  in  a  couple  of  days 
and  at  practically  no  cost.  The  population  is  so  small 
for  the  area  of  the  country  that  there  is  no  such  strug- 
gle for  existence  as  that  which  developed  the  vigor  of 
the  Pilgrim  Fathers  on  the  rocky  hillsides  of  New 
England,  or  of  the  Chinese  on  those  densely  populated 
plains  where  the  individual  must  toil  alertly  and  inces- 
santly or  starve.  The  bitter  poverty  of  China  and 
Korea  is  unknown  in  Siam.  The  typical  Siamese  is 
sleek  and  well-fed,  and  he  wears  more  gold  and  silver 
ornaments  than  any  other  native  of  Asia,  even  naked 
urchins  playing  in  the  streets  being  adorned  with  solid 
silver  anklets,  wristlets,  and  necklaces.  This  com- 
fortable, listless,  self-satisfied  people,  proud  too  of  their 
orthodox  Buddhism,  received  the  missionary  with  a 
good-natured  indifference  which  bent  under  the  touch 
like  rubber,  only  to  spring  back  into  place  a  moment 
later. 

A  Lao  Convert.  Beginnings  among  the  Lao  of 
northern  Siam  were  somewhat  easier.  The  scholarly 
missionaries  foretold  the  eclipse  of  August,  1868,  a 
week  before  it  occurred.  The  natives  were  profoundly 
impressed,  and  one  of  the  most  influential  Buddhist 
scholars  of  Chieng-mai,  Nan  Inta,  was  converted.  He 
became  a  Christian  of  great  beauty  and  strength  of 
character  and  labored  indefatigably  for  Christ  until  his 
death  in  1882. 


nipa-palm,    the    large    leaves    of    which    are    used    for 
thatching. 


FOUNDING  THE  CHURCHES  41 

A  Buddhist  Legend.  A  beautiful  legend  had  pre- 
pared the  way  for  the  gospel  among  the  people  of  Siam. 
This  legend  taught  that  myriads  of  centuries  ago,  a 
white  crow  laid  five  eggs,  each  of  which  was  taken  by  a 
foster-mother  and  hatched.  After  a  time  they  entered 
the  upper  world,  each  as  a  lotus.  One  by  one  they 
were  to  bud  and  be  born  on  earth  as  Buddhas  for  the 
adoration  of  men.  Four  of  these  sons  have  already 
appeared,  but  the  fourth  stage  now  nears  its  close,  and 
when  it  ends,  the  fifth  and  last  Buddha  will  appear. 
He  is  to  unite  all  the  glories  and  powers  of  his  brothers 
and  is  to  reign  84,000  years.  In  his  reign  all  men  will 
become  pure  as  milk,  all  who  have  white  hearts  will  be 
born  or  reborn,  and  when  he  enters  Nirvana  they  too 
shall  enter  with  him.  And  so  in  many  parts  of  Siam, 
the  missionaries  find  an  expectation  of  the  speedy  com- 
ing of  One  who  will  incarnate  the  highest  development 
of  a  noble  faith.  Whom,  therefore,  they  unconsciously 
expect,  the  missionaries  declare  unto  them,  not  in  any 
spirit  of  sectarianism  or  nationality,  but  as  the  One  for 
whom  the  world  waits  and  through  whom  only  man 
may  enter  into  communion  with  God. 

Martyrs  among  Pioneer  Converts.  Although  there 
were  local  advantages  of  one  kind  or  another,  the  gen- 
eral fact  remains  that  most  of  the  early  Christians  in 
all  of  these  lands  had  a  hard  time.  Little  or  no  real 
sacrifice  is  required  to  confess  Christ  in  America, 
where  Christianity  is  popular.  But  it  costs  in  many  a 
mission  field.  Two  of  the  earliest  converts  among  the 
Laos  of  northern  Siam,  Noi  Su  Ya  and  Nan  Chai, 


42     RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

were  arrested,  and,  on  being  brought  before  the  author- 
ities, confessed  that  they  had  forsaken  Buddhism. 
"The  death-yoke  was  then  put  around  their  necks,  and 
a  small  rope  was  passed  through  the  holes  in  their 
ears — used  for  earrings  by  all  natives — and  carried 
tightly  over  the  beam  of  a  house.  After  being  thus 
tortured  all  night,  they  were  again  examined  in  the 
morning;  but,  with  a  fortitude  worthy  of  the  noblest 
traditions  of  the  early  Church,  they  steadfastly  re- 
fused to  deny  their  Savior  even  in  the  very  presence  of 
death.  They  prepared  for  execution  by  a  reverent 
prayer,  closing  with  the  words,  'Lord  Jesus,  receive  my 
spirit.'  They  were  then  taken  to  the  jungle  and 
clubbed  to  death.  One  of  them,  not  dying  quickly 
enough  to  suit  the  executioners,  was  thrust  through  the 
heart  with  a  spear." 

A  Trying  "Christian"  Group.  Another  group  of 
peoples  comprises  the  modern  descendants  of  ancient 
world-empires,  such  as  the  Persians,  Egyptians,  and 
Syrians,  whose  faces  are  toward  a  dead  antiquity  and 
who  have  all  the  pride  of  their  illustrious  ancestors 
without  the  robust  qualities  which  made  them  great. 
A  peculiar  difficulty  among  these  peoples  is  encoun- 
tered in  nominal  forms  of  Christianity  which  long  since 
lost  all  their  vitality  and  which  exist  to-day  more  as 
tribal  cults  than  as  religious  systems.  The  few  rights 
which  Moslem  law  concedes  to  non-Moslems  are 
granted  only  to  organized  bodies.  These  sects  are 
therefore  semipolitical  organizations.  There  is  a 
motley  variety  of  them :  Armenians,  Nestorians, 


FOUNDING  THE  CHURCHES  43 

Druses,  Nusairiyeh,  Jacobites,  Maronites,  Copts, 
Syriacs,  and  others.  As  most  of  them  call  themselves 
Christians,  and  as  their  Christianity  is  a  clan  symbol 
rather  than  a  spiritual  faith,  they  have  associated  the 
name  of  Christian  in  the  Mohammedan  mind  with  in- 
feriority, turbulence,  and  mendacity.  Some  of  these 
sects  are  more  intelligent  and  progressive  than  the 
Moslem  population  about  them,  and  one  may  occasion- 
ally find  among  them  remarkably  strong  and  attrac- 
tive men  and  women.  The  Armenians  in  particular 
include  some  of  the  ablest  men  in  Turkey  and  Persia. 
But,  taking  the  nominally  Christian  sects  as  a  whole, 
their  reputation  is  so  bad  that  our  missionaries  and  the 
new  converts  were  forced  to  call  themselves  "Protes- 
tants" to  distinguish  themselves  from  the  "Christians." 
One  of  the  first  things  that  the  traveler  has  to  learn  is 
that  a  "Christian"  in  that  part  of  the  world  is  not  a 
Christian.  A  man  belongs  to  a  sect  because  he  was 
born  in  it,  and  his  religion  is  simply  the  badge  and 
inheritance  of  his  clan. 

The  Shame  of  Jerusalem.  In  Palestine,  the  conduct 
of  these  alleged  followers  of  the  true  God  is  the  scandal 
of  Christendom.  The  Holy  City  impressed  me  as  the 
most  unholy  place  I  saw  in  two  journeys  around  the 
world.  Of  course  no  one  can  now  positively  identify 
the  exact  places  which  are  associated  with  the  most 
hallowed  events  of  our  religion.  But  greedy  priests 
profess  to  know  them,  and  have  erected  churches  and 
shrines  which  are  annually  visited  by  myriads  of  the 
superstitious.  In  the  Church  of  the  Nativity  at  Beth- 


44     RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

lehem  and  the  Church  of  the  Holy  Sepulcher  at  Jeru- 
salem no  one  sect  is  allowed  a  monopoly,  but  each  has 
been  assigned  its  own  portion,  so  that  in  the  same 
building  are  chapels  set  aside  for  Greeks,  Armenians, 
Jacobites,  Copts,  and  Syriacs.  But  the  visitor  is 
startled  to  find  Moslem  soldiers  with  loaded  rifles  and 
fixed  bayonets  constantly  on  guard  in  these  churches 
to  prevent  the  "Christians"  from  cutting  one  another's 
throats.  Only  a  short  time  before  my  visit,  two  men 
were  killed  in  a  brawl  in  the  very  grotto  where  Christ 
is  said  to  have  been  born.  In  Jerusalem  the  Church  of 
the  Holy  Sepulcher  is  a  strange  mixture  of  gorgeous- 
ness  and  squalor.  An  Armenian  service  was  in  prog- 
ress during  my  visit.  The  procession  could  not  have 
been  matched  anywhere  outside  of  a  circus.  As  the 
Patriarch,  whose  miter  blazed  with  precious  stones  and 
whose  robes  we're  literally  cloth  of  gold,  was  about  to 
enter  the  sepulcher  where  Christ's  body  is  alleged  to 
have  lain,  a  deacon  fumbled  in  removing  his  miter,  and 
the  Patriarch,  unimpressed  by  the  solemnity  of  the 
place  and  time,  snarled  at  him  with  the  ferocity  of  a 
wolf  and  in  a  voice  heard  by  the  whole  congregation, 
while  fifty  Turkish  soldiers  scattered  about  the  build- 
ing tightened  their  grip  upon  their  rifles  in  expecta- 
tion of  a  free  fight.  A  melee  between  the  Greek  and 
Latin  monks  had  actually  occurred  shortly  before,  and 
as  a  result  thirty-four  Greeks,  including  twelve  priests, 
had  been  sentenced  to  imprisonment.  An  American 
Jewish  rabbi  sarcastically  remarked :  "Jesus  must  have 
left  Jerusalem  long  ago." 


FOUNDING  THE  CHURCHES  45 

Hard  Moslem  Field.  Most  difficult  of  all  were  be- 
ginnings among  Mohammedans,  217,000,000  in  num- 
ber, scattered  over  many  widely  separated  countries, 
existing  under  different  governments — sometimes  in- 
dependent as  in  Turkey,  sometimes  nominally  independ- 
ent as  in  Persia,  and  sometimes  subordinate  as  in  Egypt. 
Rent  into  sects,  mutually  hostile,  they  presented  toward 
the  non-Mohammedan  world  a  comparatively  solid 
front  of  implacable  opposition.  For  a  long  time  after 
missionaries  arrived,  preaching  to  Mohammedans  was 
forbidden  and  evangelism  had  to  be  confined  to  the 
nominally  Christian  sects.  It  is  not  true,  as  some  have 
asserted,  that  no  Moslems  have  been  converted;  but 
every  student  of  missions  knows  that  unusual  diffi- 
culties attended  the  effort  to  give  the  gospel  to  the  fol- 
lowers of  Islam.  A  girl's  confession  of  Christ  in  a 
Syrian  boarding-school  caused  a  riot  in  which  phys- 
ical violence  was  averted  only  by  extraordinary  tact 
and  courage  on  the  part  of  the  missionaries.  Indeed, 
according  to  Moslem  law  a  Christian  who  had  never 
been  a  Mohammedan  was  allowed  to  live  in  a  Moslem 
land  only  on  the  following  conditions :  "He  shall  not 
found  churches,  monasteries,  or  religious  establish- 
ments, nor  raise  his  house  so  high  as,  or  higher  than, 
the  houses  of  the  Moslems;  nor  ride  horses,  but  only 
mules  and  donkeys,  and  these  even  after  the  manner  of 
women;  draw  back  and  give  way  to  Moslems  in  the 
thoroughfare ;  wear  clothes  different  from  those  of  the 
Moslems,  or  some  sign  to  distinguish  him  from  them ; 
have  a  distinctive  mark  when  in  the  public  baths, 


46    RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

namely,  iron,  tin,  or  copper  bands ;  abstain  from  drink- 
ing wine  and  eating  pork ;  not  celebrate  religious  feasts 
publicly;  not  sing  or  read  aloud  the  text  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments,  and  not  ring  bells;  not  speak 
scornfully  of  God  or  Mohammed;  not  seek  to  intro- 
duce innovations  into  the  state  nor  to  convert  Moslems ; 
not  enter  mosques  without  permission;  not  set  foot 
upon  the  territory  of  Mekka  nor  dwell  in  the  Hadjas 
district" 

The  Rev.  Henry  H.  Jessup  wrote  that  shortly  after 
the  Rev.  Joseph  Wolff  arrived  in  Tripoli,  Syria,  he 
said  one  morning  to  his  interpreter:  "Abdullah,  I  am 
going  to  the  bazaars  to  preach  to  the  Moslems."  Ab- 
dullah replied :  "I  beg  you  not  to  go,  for  they  will  mob 
us."  The  Doctor  insisted,  and  Abdullah  himself  after- 
wards described  the  trip  to  Dr.  Jessup:  "We  walked 
around  to  the  bazaars  and  Dr.  Wolff  mounted  a  stone 
platform  and  said :  'My  friends,  I  have  come  to  preach 
to  you  the  gospel  of  Christ.  He  that  believeth  shall 
be  saved,  and  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  condemned.' 
I  translated  as  follows :  'The  Khowaja  says  that  he 
loves  you  very  much,  and  that  the  English  and  the 
Moslems  are  all  alike.'  Whereupon  the  Moslems  ap- 
plauded, and  Wolff  thought  he  had  made  a  deep  impres- 
sion." 

Dr.  Jessup  exclaimed :  "How  could  you  deceive  a 
good  man  in  that  way  ?"  He  replied :  "What  could  I 
do?  Had  I  translated  literally  we  should  have  been 
killed;  and  Wolff  may  have  been  prepared  to  die  but 
I  was  not." 


FOUNDING  THE  CHURCHES  47 

But  "in  spite  of  all  obstacles,"  writes  the  Rev.  F.  E. 
Hoskins,  "almost  every  day  the  schools  were  open.  Al- 
most every  hour  the  Bible  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
leaders  and  listeners.  The  missionaries  journeyed  up 
and  down  the  field  in  winter  and  summer,  in  heat  and 
cold,  in  sunshine  and  storm.  Thousands  were  spoken 
to  by  the  way,  and  tens  of  thousands  were  taught  in 
their  own  homes.  Often,  as  I  look  from  the  heights 
of  Lebanon  over  that  beautiful  plain,  I  trace  in  fancy 
the  shining  threads  of  those  consecrated  lives  stretch- 
ing from  mountain  to  mountain,  leading  from  village 
to  village,  from  home  to  home,  crossing  and  recross- 
ing,  interlacing  and  intertwining,  until  the  earth  is 
covered  as  with  a  garment  of  light  and  glory.  Whether 
men  heeded  or  rejected,  not  a  word  spoken,  not  a 
kindly  act,  not  a  prayer,  not  a  tear,  was  lost  or  for- 
gotten before  God." 

The  Water  of  Life.  The  spiritual  condition  of  such 
Moslem  lands  as  Syria,  Palestine,  Persia,  and  Arabia 
is  illustrated  by  the  physical  condition.  The  natural 
rainfall  is  so  .small  and  unevenly  distributed  that  water 
must  be  sought  and  laboriously  conveyed  to  the  places 
where  it  is  most  needed.  Formerly,  wells,  springs, 
ditches,  and  aqueducts  were  numerous  and  the  soil 
produced  abundantly.  The  Bible  shows  how  large  a 
part  water  had  in  the  thought  of  the  people.  As  many 
as  646  times  the  inspired  writers  use  the  word  "water," 
either  literally  or  figuratively,  "brooks"  53  times, 
"springs"  29  times,  "streams"  24  times,  "rivers"  145 
times,  "fountains"  49  times,  "wells"  61  times,  "rain" 


48    RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

108  times,  "cisterns"  5  times.  Altogether  these  words 
occur  1,224  times  in  the  Bible. 

But  to-day,  many  of  the  watercourses  are  dried  up. 
The  ancient  wells  are  choked  with  the  accumulations 
of  centuries  of  neglect.  Fountains  which  once  poured 
forth  refreshing  streams  are  stagnant  pools  which 
proffer  disease  and  death  rather  than  life.  The  modern 
traveler  sees  barren  valleys  and  stony  hillsides  baking 
under  the  burning  eastern  sun.  The  general  appear- 
ance is  arid,  save  at  a  few  places  and  at  certain  seasons. 
The  country  is  literally  "a  dry  and  weary  land,  where 
no  water  is." 

And  is  not  this  a  picture  of  the  spiritual  condition? 
Here  appeared  One  who  said :  "Whosoever  drinketh 
of  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall  never  thirst; 
but  the  water  that  I  shall  give  him  shall  become  in  him 
a  well  of  water  springing  up  unto  everlasting  life." 
But  he  who  said  that  was  crucified.  His  disciples  were 
persecuted  and  scattered  abroad.  Wars,  famines,  and 
pestilences  spread  over  the  land.  Men  ceased  to  drink 
of  the  water  of  life  and  turned  to  the  broken  cisterns 
of  formalism  and  sin.  And  so  the  fountain  ceased 
to  flow  and  the  region  became  "as  a  garden  that  hath 
no  water." 

But  in  these  latter  days,  men  and  women  of  God  are 
seeking  to  reopen  the  long  closed  fountains  and  to 
cause  the  living  waters  again  to  flow.  The  task  is 
painful  and  laborious.  In  some  places  there  has 
been  no  apparent  result,  and  out-stations,  which  were 
begun  in  hope,  have  had  to  be  abandoned.  In  others, 


FOUNDING  THE  CHURCHES  49 

spiritual  success  is  within  reach,  but  the  missionaries 
have  not  been  so  equipped  that  they  could  actually 
secure  a  vital  gospel  response,  and  these  stations  and 
out-stations  are  not  being  utilized.  In  still  others, 
spiritual  success  has  come  nearer,  so  that  the  life-giv- 
ing water  is  actually  coming  forth  to  refresh  and  fruc- 
tify. We  need  not  be  discouraged  because  some  efforts 
appear  to  have  accomplished  little.  We  may  rather  be 
cheered  by  the  knowledge  that  the  water  of  life  is  really 
flowing  once  more  at  whatever  cost  of  toil  and  pain. 
But  let  the  people  of  God  in  the  home  land  join  with 
the  missionaries  across  the  sea  in  the  constant  and  im- 
portunate prayer  that  the  fountains  of  eternal  life  may 
soon  more  freely  and  abundantly  pour  forth  their 
treasures. 

Call  for  Cooperation  and  Sympathy.  Considera- 
tions of  this  kind  should  be  more  generally  understood 
if  the  home  churches  are  to  give  missionaries  and 
native  Christians  intelligent  cooperation  and  sympathy. 
The  pioneer  missionary  went  to  a  non-Christian  world 
which  was  without  the  knowledge  of  God,  selfish  and 
brutal  in  its  treatment  of  man,  not  realizing  its  own  sin, 
ignorant  of  the  great  salvation  brought  by  Christ,  and 
facing  a  future  in  which  no  star  of  hope  shone.  Into 
this  world  the  missionary  of  the  cross  carried  the  lofty 
Christian  teachings  of  God  the  Sovereign  and  Father, 
of  Jesus  Christ  the  only  Savior,  of  man  our  brother, 
of  sin  as  the  destroyer  of  the  soul,  of  salvation  freely 
offered  to  men,  and  of  the  eternal  life  of  the  soul  with 
God.  Imagine  the  amazement  of  the  people,  the  incre- 


50    RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

dulity  and  opposition  of  some  and  the  eager  response  of 
others.  Precisely  what  is  so  vividly  pictured  in  the 
seventeenth  chapter  of  the  Book  of  Acts  took  place 
when  this  message  was  proclaimed  in  a  non-Christian 
land.  "Some  mocked;  but  others  said,  We  will  hear 
thee  concerning  this  yet  again. 

"But  certain  men    .    .    .    believed:    .    .    .    and  a 
woman." 


Ill 

TEMPTATIONS  AND  DIFFICULTIES  OF  THE 
CHRISTIAN 

The  Way  of  the  Cross 

Christ's  Declarations.  Some  people  imagine  that 
the  Christian  life  is  a  sort  of  escape  ladder  from  trouble. 
Our  Lord,  however,  gave  plain  warning  that  disciple- 
ship  was  beset  with  perils  and  difficulties.  He  did  not 
appeal  to  love  of  ease  but  to  the  heroic  spirit  of  struggle 
and  self-sacrifice.  He  frankly  told  his  apostles  that  his 
service  would  alienate  friends  and  even  parents;  that 
his  followers  would  be  delivered  up  "unto  tribulation," 
"hated  of  all  the  nations,"  and  killed.1  But  he  declared, 
nevertheless,  that  those  who  were  not  willing  to  take 
up  the  cross  and  follow  him  would  not  be  worthy  of 
him.2 

Moderate  Testings  in  America.  Even  in  America, 
where  Christianity  has  a  measure  of  popularity  and 
even  temporal  advantage,  the  Christian  life  is  not  easy. 
Seme  associations  have  to  be  changed.  There  are  so- 
cial customs  which  a  Christian  cannot  countenance. 
Business  and  professional  men  are  often  tempted  to 
resort  to  questionable  methods  to  gain  success,  and  if 
they  refuse  to  yield  to  the  temptation,  they  are  sorely 
tried  by  the  competition  of  less  scrupulous  rivals. 

'Matt,  xxiv.  9.  2Matt.  x.  38. 


52     RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

There  are,  too,  temptations  in  one's  awn  life  which 
must  be  sternly  fought  by  the  Christian.  Habits  have 
to  be  broken;  new  view-points  created.  Mr.  Moody 
said  that  he  never  had  any  serious  trouble  with  himself 
until  he  became  a  follower  of  Christ;  but  that  after 
that  he  had  a  great  deal  of  trouble. 

More  Serious  Trials  Abroad.  These  common  temp- 
tations and  difficulties  are  enormously  increased  for 
the  convert  from  a  non-Christian  faith  in  Asia  and 
Africa,  while  others  still  more  formidable  assail  him. 
Their  cumulative  effect  is  so  great  that  we  ought  to 
give  unstinted  sympathy  and  respect  to  our  heroic  fel- 
low Christians  who,  in  such  circumstances,  have  the 
faith  and  courage  to  witness  a  good  confession  for 
Jesus  Christ.  We  need  not  devote  time  to  those  temp- 
tations and  difficulties  which  characterize  the  Chris- 
tian everywhere;  but  it  may  help  us  to  a  better  under- 
standing of  the  Church  in  the  mission  field  if  we  con- 
sider some  of  those  that  are  peculiar  to  Christians 
in  non-Christian  lands.  A  large  volume  would  be 
required  for  adequate  treatment  of  all  of  them;  but 
here  we  may  summarize  them  in  ten  classes. 

Ten  Difficulties 

i.  Opposition  of  Established  Religious  Systems. 
Religion  in  some  form  is  universal.  No  tribe  or  na- 
tion has  ever  been  found  that  has  not  had  a  religious 
belief  of  some  kind.  In  countries  like  Korea  and 
Africa  this  does  not  manifest  itself  in  a  strong  external 
organization;  but  in  most  mission  fields  it  does  so 


TEMPTATIONS  AND  DIFFICULTIES  53 

manifest  itself.  Mohammedanism,  Hinduism,  Bud- 
dhism, and  Confucianism  hold  sway  over  large  parts 
of  the  non-Christian  world.  They  are  represented  by 
innumerable  temples  and  shrines,  by  prescribed  cere- 
monial observances,  by  countless  priests,  and  by  an 
identification  with  the  government  which  makes  relig- 
ion and  patriotism  synonymous  terms.  Variations  in 
details  might  be  pointed  out  in  particular  countries,  but 
in  a  broad  sense  this  characterization  is  applicable  to 
most  of  Asia  and  Latin  America  The  convert  to 
Christianity  immediately  finds  the  whole  power  of  the 
religious  cult  arrayed  against  him.  Even  though  the 
priests  care  nothing  about  religion  as  such,  and  many 
of  them  do  not,  they,  like  the  silversmiths  of  Ephesus, 
are  quick  to  recognize  that  the  new  faith  imperils  their 
craft,  and  the  convert  finds  himself,  like  Paul  of  old, 
in  danger  from  those  who  profit  by  the  worship  of 
Diana l 

2.  Persistence  of  Pre-Christian  Superstitions.  This 
is  a  difficulty  which  has  been  little  studied  and  is  but 
partially  understood.  If  the  reader  will  apply  this  test 
to  Christianity  at  home  and  to  his  own  faith,  he  may 
find  some  uncomfortable  illustrations  even  in  America 
which  is  supposed  to  be  many  generations  from  pagan- 
ism. Recent  events  have  given  startling  evidence  of 
the  survival  of  pre-Christian  conceptions  of  the  deity 
in  western  lands.  How  prone  we  are  to  call  upon  God 
to  advance  our  particular  interests  even  when  they 
involve  loss  or  disadvantage  to  others !  How  prone  as 

'Acts  xix.  24-41. 


54    RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

patriots  to  pray  upon  the  assumption  that  Jehovah  is 
a  tribal  deity — the  God  of  our  country  in  such  a  pre- 
eminent sense  that  we  can  reasonably  expect  him  to 
further  our  plans  and  to  confound  those  of  other  na- 
tions! 

If  this  persistence  of  narrow  ideas  of  God  is  still  to 
be  found  among  white  nations  which  have  known 
Christianity  for  centuries,  one  can  imagine  how  much 
more  serious  it  is  likely  to  be  among  peoples  that 
have  recently  emerged  from  polytheism.  For  example, 
India  has  had  a  religion  rooted  in  pantheism  for  more 
than  a  thousand  years.  When  an  East  Indian  becomes 
a  Christian,  he  does  not  and  cannot  instantly  divest 
himself  of  his  pantheism.  He  renounces  all  that  he  is 
conscious  of  having;  but  the  pantheistic  interpretation 
of  the  world,  which  is  an  inheritance  from  centuries  of 
ancestral  attitudes  and  to  which  he  is  born  and  bred, 
subconsciously  affects  his  interpretation  of  Christian- 
ity. 

The  Japanese  have  a  type  of  patriotism,  a  national 
solidarity,  which  expresses  itself  in  worship  of  the 
emperor  as  the  incarnation  of  the  life  of  the  people. 
The  notion  of  personality  in  a  Supreme  Being  has  small 
meaning  to  them  apart  from  the  august  imperial  per- 
sonage. When  a  Japanese  becomes  a  follower  of 
Christ,  he  accepts  a  new  notion  of  the  divine  person- 
ality and  of  universal  brotherhood.  He  is  as  loyal  as 
ever  to  his  emperor  and  nation,  but  his  national  char- 
acteristics naturally  influence  his  Christianity.  The 
type  of  religious  faith  and  experience  that  is  develop- 


TEMPTATIONS  AND  DIFFICULTIES  56 

ing  in  Japan  is  quite  distinct  from  that  among  the 
neighboring  people  of  Chosen.1 

Africans  are  haunted  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave 
by  fear  of  evil  spirits.  Every  occurrence  in  nature  is 
attributed  to  them.  The  thunder  is  the  roar  of  a 
demon ;  the  lightning  the  flash  of  his  angry  eyes. 
Disease  is  due  to  a  demon  in  the  body.  When 
one  has  been  born  and  brought  up  among  people  to 
whom  the  fear  of  spirits  is  an  ominously  real  thing, 
it  is  impossible  for  him  to  discard  that  fear  the  moment 
he  becomes  a  Christian.  If  he  recovers  from  illness, 
or  if  his  family  is  untouched  by  an  epidemic,  he  is 
tempted  to  believe  that  the  Christian  spirits  are  more 
powerful  than  the  heathen  spirits  and  that  his  adher- 
ence to  Christianity  will  secure  to  him  their  protection 
and  bring  to  him  other  material  benefits. 

Low  ideas  of  women  are  well-nigh  universal  in  non- 
Christian  lands.  Almost  everywhere  and  even  in  pro- 
gressive Japan  immorality  is  not  considered  disgrace- 
ful, but  is  regarded  at  worst  as  a  venial  sin.  The  in- 
feriority of  woman  and  her  subjection  to  man  are 
fundamental  in  the  non-Christian  view.  Some  peoples, 
the  Burmans  for  example,  give  her  greater  freedom 
than  others,  and  some,  like  the  Chinese,  honor  her  if 
she  bears  many  sons ;  but  nowhere  is  woman  the  equal 
of  man.  In  many  lands,  polygamy  and  concubinage 
are  woven  into  the  very  warp  and  woof  of  society. 
How  can  a  convert  be  expected  to  cast  off  such  firmly 
fixed  ideas  on  the  day  of  his  conversion  ? 

'Japan's  official  name  for  Korea. 


56    RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

If  this  thought  is  followed  out,  it  will  lead  not  only 
to  a  new  appreciation  of  the  difficulties  of  the  native 
Christian,  but  to  some  rather  disconcerting  discov- 
eries in  our  own  Christian  life  and  thought.  What 
means  the  double  moral  standard  in  the  United  States, 
the  common  disposition  to  condone  in  a  man  what  is 
unforgivably  condemned  in  a  woman?  It  is  simply 
the  persistence  of  pagan  ideas  of  the  relationship  of  the 
sexes.  I  venture  to  believe  that  there  will  be  Amer- 
ican readers  of  this  book  who  are  superstitious  about 
seeing  the  moon  over  the  left  shoulder,  and  who  would 
feel  uncomfortable  if  they  found  themselves  forming 
a  party  of  thirteen  at  a  table.  Is  there  any  young  lady 
among  them  who  would  be  willing  to  be  married  on 
Friday  ?  Persistence  of  pagan  superstition !  * 

3.  Inherited  Traditions  and  Social  Customs.  Cus- 
tom, powerful  even  in  changing  America,  is  still  more 
powerful  in  conservative  Europe  and  is  of  iron  ri- 
gidity in  non-Christian  lands.  Few  American  women 
dare  to  disregard  the  conventions  of  the  class  with 
which  they  wish  to  mingle.  They  know  that  exclusion 
would  be  the  penalty.  The  sway  of  fashion  is  simply 
the  sway  of  custom.  Men  are  not  exempt ;  a  man  must 
dress  as  other  men  do. 

We  accept  all  this  as  a  matter  of  course.  But  ima- 
gine the  situation  of  a  new  convert  in  India  where 
fashion,  social  customs,  the  established  usages  of 


1Cf.  on  this  whole  subject,  "Vestiges  of  Heathenism  within 
the  Church  in  the  Mission  Field,"  by  Prof.  Joh.  Warneck,  Inter- 
national Review  of  Missions,  October,  1914. 


TEMPTATIONS  AND  DIFFICULTIES  67 

people  with  whom  he  wishes  to  associate,  are  identified 
with  beliefs  and  practises  that  a  Christian  cannot 
follow.  Apply  this  thought  to  caste  and  the  seclusion 
of  women  in  zenanas,  to  foot-binding  in  China,  and  to 
a  dozen  other  customs  which  will  readily  occur  to  one. 
A  converted  Brahman  cannot  keep  caste;  and  yet  if  he 
breaks  it,  he  is  instantly  ostracized.  A  Chinese  woman 
with  unbound  feet  could  not  marry  and  would  be  an 
object  of  ridicule  and  contempt.  Natural  feet  are  now 
becoming  more  common  in  cities  where  missionaries 
have  long  been  stationed  and  the  anti-foot-binding 
movement  is  growing;  but  in  the  greater  part  of  China 
unbound  feet  are  still  evidence  that  one  is  not  a  lady. 

4.  Family  Difficulties.  There  are  family  difficulties, 
too,  as  old  as  Christianity.  Our  Lord  plainly  said  that 
he  had  "come  to  set  a  man  at  variance  against  his 
father,  and  the  daughter  against  her  mother,  and  the 
daughter-in-law  against  her  mother-in-law,"  and  that 
"a  man's  foes  shall  be  they  of  his  own  household."  x 
In  America,  we  have  passed  the  stage  where  serious 
trouble  of  this  kind  is  common,  although  many  pastors 
could  point  to  exceptions.  But  on  the  mission  field 
this  difficulty  is  the  rule.  The  supreme  ambition  of  a 
Chinese  is  to  have  sons  who  will  honor  his  ancestral 
tablet  after  his  death.  Imagine  his  consternation  when 
he  learns  that  his  son  has  joined  the  Christians,  who  do 
not  worship  tablets  of  ancestors.  Marriage  in  Asia  is 
arranged  by  the  parents,  the  young  lady,  or  girl  rather, 
for  child-marriage  is  the  rule,  having  no  voice  what- 

'Matt.  x.  35,  36. 


58     RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

ever  in  the  matter  and  seldom  or  never  seeing  her  hus- 
band until  the  marriage  day.  Consider  what  this 
means  to  a  Christian  girl  who  finds  herself  virtually 
sold  to  a  dissolute  man  old  enough  to  be  her  grand- 
father. Family  spirit  is  intensely  strong  among 
most  non-Christian  peoples.  Several  generations 
often  live  together  in  one  household  and  the 
elders  are  implicitly  obeyed.  A  member  of 
the  family  who  becomes  a  Christian  cuts  himself  off 
from  the  family  life  and  awakens  a  storm  of  protest 
which  in  some  cases  finds  expression  in  the  fiercest 
persecution. 

5.  Conforming  to  New  Standards  of  Life.  The 
difficulties  of  adaptation  to  new  standards  of  life  are 
great.  Reference  has  been  made  to  purity.  Another 
illustration  might  be  found  in  truthfulness.  Non- 
Christian  peoples  do  not  deem  it  wrong  to  lie  and  de- 
ceive. It  is  true  that  one  may  find  excellent  maxims 
on  truth-telling  in  some  of  the  sacred  writings  of 
Confucianism  and  Buddhism,  but  they  have  had  no 
effect  upon  the  life  of  the  people.  Deceit  is  regarded 
as  a  test  of  wit  and  skill.  One  is  expected  to  deceive 
others  if  he  can  do  so.  If  he  is  caught,  he  is  laughed 
at,  not  because  he  lied  but  because  he  was  too  clumsy 
to  do  it  without  detection.  Where  the  whole  life  and 
the  entire  relationship  to  others  have  been  character- 
ized by  untruth  fulness,  say  to  the  age  of  twenty-five, 
is  it  easy  for  one  converted  at  that  age  instantaneously 
to  become  truthful  in  word  and  act,  and  to  adapt  him- 
self smoothly  to  continued  relations  with  untruthful 


TEMPTATIONS  AND  DIFFICULTIES  59 

people?  When  a  man  has  never  permitted  his  wife  to 
eat  with  him  or  recognized  her  right  to  do  anything 
but  to  minister  to  his  comfort  or  caprice,  he  is  apt  to 
find  it  hard,  when  converted,  to  accept  her  as  an  equal 
companion.  Relationships  which  have  been  solidified 
by  a  lifetime  and  by  inherited  traditions  of  centuries 
back  of  his  own  life  make  it  uphill  work  for  him  to 
change  all  the  family  attitudes.  Sabbath  observance 
is  a  problem  which  deeply  perplexes  almost  every  mis- 
sionary. People  who  have  never  been  accustomed  to 
regard  one  day  in  seven  as  sacred  find  peculiar  diffi- 
culties in  adapting  themselves  to  the  requirements  of 
the  fourth  commandment.  It  is  trying  for  a  shop- 
keeper to  close  his  doors  on  Sunday  when  his  competi- 
tors keep  theirs  open.  If  an  employee  declines  to  work 
every  seventh  day,  he  loses  his  job. 

The  missionary  is  sometimes  greatly  puzzled  to 
know  how  far  he  should  press  some  of  his  own  stand- 
ards upon  his  converts.  He  wisely  reflects  that  his  in- 
terpretations of  what  Christianity  requires  are  not  in- 
fallible but  that  they  have  been  formed  by  the  peoples 
of  the  West.  In  the  Massachusetts  village  of  my  boy- 
hood days  it  was  deemed  a  monstrous  sin  to  cook  food 
or  to  black  one's  shoes  on  Sunday.  The  beans  and 
brown  bread  were  baked  on  Saturday,  and  Sunday  was 
devoted  to  church  attendance  and  to  such  pious  reading 
as  Fox's  Book  of  Martyrs,  and  Doddridge's  The  Rise 
and  Progress  of  Religion  in  the  Soul.  To  read  a 
novel  on  that  day  was  to  imperil  one's  soul.  A  common 
incident  of  the  evening  was  the  spanking  of  boys  who 


€0    RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

had  been  restless  during  the  long  prayers  of  the  minis- 
ter; and  at  least  one  of  them  thought  that  the  future 
prospect  was  rather  gloomy  when  he  heard  the  hymn 
which  feelingly  declared  that  heaven  is  a  place 

"Where  congregations  ne'er  break  up 
And  Sabbaths  have  no  end." 

In  teaching  religion  in  non-Christian  lands  we 
should  be  careful  not  to  create  artificial  and  mechanical 
tests  of  Christian  conduct.  Where  an  act  is  not  in- 
herently wrong  in  itself  but  is  a  question  of  Christian 
expediency  or  Biblical  interpretation,  we  should  be 
slow  to  forbid  it  in  converts.  If  we  advise  against  it, 
we  should  be  careful  not  to  put  it  in  the  same  category 
as  stealing  or  untruthfulness.  Many  of  us  even  in 
America  are  still  prone  to  think  that  other  Christians 
are  grievously  sinning  if  they  do  something  that  is 
contrary  to  our  idea  of  what  a  follower  of  Christ  ought 
to  do.  The  tenth  and  eleventh  chapters  of  the  Book 
of  Acts  may  be  wisely  studied  in  this  connection.  We 
may  prudently  remember  that  it  was  the  Pharisees  who 
insisted  that  their  rules  of  conduct  must  be  scrupu- 
lously kept  and  to  whom  our  Lord  sharply  said  :  "Wo 
unto  you  Pharisees  !  for  ye  tithe  mint  and  rue  and 
every  herb,  and  pass  over  justice  and  the  love  of  God"  j1 
and  of  whom  he  said  to  his  disciples  :  "They  bind 
heavy  burdens  and  grievous  to  be  borne,  and  lay  them 
on  men's  shoulders."  2 

The  example  of  the  apostolic  Church   in   dealing 


xi.  42.  JMatt.  xxiii.  4. 


TEMPTATIONS  AND  DIFFICULTIES  61 

with  the  Gentile  Christians  in  Antioch  is  significant. 
When  certain  men  came  down  from  Judea  and  taught 
the  brethren  saying:  "Except  ye  be  circumcised  after 
the  custom  of  Moses,  ye  cannot  be  saved,"  Paul  and 
Barnabas  vigorously  protested.  Appeal  was  made  "to 
Jerusalem  unto  the  apostles  and  elders,"  where  Phari- 
sees insisted  that  the  new  converts  must  "keep  the  law 
of  Moses."  Peter,  with  characteristic  energy,  rejoined : 
"Why  make  ye  trial  of  God,  that  ye  should  put  a  yoke 
upon  the  neck  of  the  disciples  which  neither  our 
fathers  nor  we  were  able  to  bear?"  James  supported 
him  by  saying:  "Wherefore  my  judgment  is,  that  we 
trouble  not  them  that  from  among  the  Gentiles  turn  to 
God" ;  and  the  Council  sensibly  wrote  to  their  brethren 
in  Antioch :  "It  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  to 
us,  to  lay  upon  you  no  greater  burden  than  these  neces- 
sary things."  * 

All  of  which  is  very  wholesome  reading  in  like 
circumstances  to-day.  The  line  must  be  drawn  some- 
where. Some  things  are  clearly  on  the  wrong  side  of 
it  and  must  be  rebuked.  But  others  are  so  close  to  the 
line  that  liberty  of  judgment  should  be  recognized  in 
Christian  charity. 

6.  Financial  Difficulties.  The  first  converts  almost 
invariably  suffered  in  business  and  financial  ways. 
Tradesmen  lost  their  customers;  workmen  their  posi- 
tions ;  farmers  were  unable  to  sell  their  products.  The 
boycott  was  very  familiar  in  fact  to  native  Chris- 
tians long  before  the  term  came  into  use  in  Ireland 

'Acts  xv.  1-29. 


62    RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

and  America.  A  non-Christian  village  would  have  no 
dealings  with  a  neighbor  who  had  broken  immemorial 
customs,  renounced  the  national  religion,  disobeyed 
his  parents,  and  committed  the  monstrous  impiety  of 
profaning  the  village  gods.  Even  the  use  of  the  vil- 
lage well  was  often  denied  him,  and  in  countless  ways 
he  was  made  to  suffer  on  account  of  his  espousal  of 
"the  foreigner's  religion."  This  becomes  a  serious 
matter  to  a  convert  who  has  a  family  dependent  upon 
him  and  perhaps  aged  parents  as  well. 

7.  Educational  and  Official  Disabilities.  For  a 
hundred  years  after  the  beginning  of  missionary  work 
in  China  no  Christian  youth  could  attend  a  govern- 
ment school  or  hold  an  office,  because  worship  of  the 
tablet  of  Confucius  was  required  of  all  students  and 
officials.  When  Yuan  Shih-kai,  now  President  of 
China,  was  Governor  of  the  Province  of  Shantung, 
he  founded  at  Tsinan  a  university  on  western  models, 
and  showed  his  progressive  spirit  by  inviting  a  foreign 
missionary,  the  Rev.  Watson  M.  Hayes,  to  take  the 
presidency.  Dr.  Hayes  accepted,  but  soon  resigned 
because  he  found  that  even  Yuan  Shi-kai  was  not  pre- 
pared to  relax  the  rule  .regarding  the  worship  of  the 
tablet  of  Confucius.  In  Japan  the  path  to  all  offices 
opens  from  the  imperial  universities.  Young  men  are 
not  admitted  to  these  universities  unless  they  have  had 
their  preparatory  training  in  schools  that  are  recog- 
nized by  the  government  Department  of  Education. 
But  until  recently  the  government  would  not  grant 
such  recognition  to  a  school  which  taught  Christianity. 


TEMPTATIONS  AND  DIFFICULTIES  63 

In  Mohammedan  lands,  Christians  are  subjected  to 
grievous  civil  disabilities.  If  a  convert  was  a  Moslem, 
he  had  to  flee  from  the  country,  or  face  the  risk  of 
assassination,  or  be  drafted  into  the  army,  sent  to  some 
distant  place  and  never  heard  of  again.  If  he  was  not 
a  Moslem  prior  to  his  conversion,  he  was  subjected  to 
the  trying  exactions  which  were  noted  in  a  preceding 
chapter. 

A  series  of  concessions  known  as  "Capitulations" 
gave  some  relief  from  these  exactions  in  the  case  of 
Christians  who  were  organized  into  registered  sects; 
but  shortly  after  the  European  war  broke  out,  in  1914, 
the  Turkish  government  took  advantage  of  the  oppor- 
tunity to  abrogate  these  capitulations.  The  European 
and  American  governments  vigorously  protested,  but 
the  war  prevented  them  from  enforcing  their  wishes. 
More  liberal  ideas  are  gradually  making  their  way  in 
Turkey,  as  we  shall  note  elsewhere,  and  it  is  probable 
that  the  letter  of  Moslem  law  against  Christians  will 
not  be  strictly  enforced  in  the  future.  But  the  lot  of 
a  Christian  is  not  likely  to  be  a  comfortable  one  in  the 
Turkish  empire,  especially  if  he  was  converted  from 
Islam. 

In  most  mission  fields,  a  Christian  is  deprived  of 
advantages  and  opportunities  that  are  open  to  non- 
Christians.  Ambitious  young  men  in  America  some- 
times hesitate  to  confess  Christ  because  they  fear  that 
the  requirements  of  the  Christian  life  will  hamper  their 
efforts  for  advancement.  One  can  imagine  how  seri- 
ous this  difficulty  is  in  a  non-Christian  land. 


64     RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

8.  Social  Ostracism.  The  whole  structure  of  society 
in  a  non-Christian  community  is  pervaded,  as  we  have 
seen,  by  the  customs  and  superstitions  of  a  non-Chris- 
tian faith.  When  religion  is  identified  with  family, 
community,  and  national  life,  renunciation  of  that  re- 
ligion is  considered  disloyalty,  disrespect  to  ancestors, 
and  repudiation  of  all  former  relationships.  The  New 
Testament  affords  many  illustrations  of  the  trouble  of 
the  early  Christians  at  this  point.  The  Pharisees  had 
hedged  life  about  with  prescribed  rites  and  ceremonies 
and  had  made  religion  consist  in  observing  them.1  A 
Christian  found  it  difficult  even  to  join  in  a  social  meal 
with  friends,  for  there  were  customs  in  eating  and 
drinking  which  were  superstitious  in  their  meaning. 
The  meat  had  been  offered  to  idols,  and  the  first  Coun- 
cil of  the  Christian  Church  at  Jerusalem  found  it  ne- 
cessary to  warn  the  disciples  not  to  eat  such  meat.2 

Man  is  a  social  being.  He  is  dependent  upon  his 
associations  in  ways  that  it  is  difficult  for  him  to  real- 
ize until  he  takes  some  position  which  detaches  him 
from  them.  What  Benjamin  Kidd,  in  his  remarkable 
book  on  Social  Evolution,  said  of  the  social  develop- 
ment which  is  called  western  civilization  is  equally 
true  of  the  nations  in  non-Christian  lands.  Their 
social  development,  too,  "must  be  regarded  as  an  or- 
ganic growth,  the  key  to  the  life  history  of  which  is 
to  be  found  in  the  study  of  the  ethical  movement  which 
extends  through  it.  ...  If  we  reflect  how  deeply  these 
peoples  have  been  affected  at  every  point  by  the  move- 

TMatt.  xii.  2;  Mark  vii.  3.  "Acts  xv.  29. 


TEMPTATIONS  AND  DIFFICULTIES  65 

ment  in  question;  how  profoundly  their  laws,  institu- 
tions, mental  and  moral  training,  ways  of  judging  con- 
duct, and  habits  of  thought  have  been  influenced  for  an 
immense  number  of  generations  in  the  course  of  the 
development  through  which  they  have  passed,  we  shall 
at  once  realize  that  it  would  be  irrational  and  foolish 
to  expect  that  any  individuals  of  a  single  generation 
should  have  the  power  to  free  themselves  from  this  in- 
fluence. We  are,  all  of  us,  whatever  our  individual 
opinions  may  be  concerning  this  movement,  uncon- 
sciously influenced  by  it  at  every  point  of  our  careers 
and  in  every  movement  of  our  lives.  .  .  .  No  training, 
however  religious  and  prolonged,  no  intellectual  effort, 
however  consistent  and  concentrated,  could  ever  en- 
tirely emancipate  us  from  its  influence.  In  the  life  of 
the  individual,  the  influence  of  habit  of  thought  or 
training  once  acquired  can  be  escaped  from  only  with 
the  greatest  difficulty  and  after  the  lapse  of  a  long  in- 
terval of  time." 

9.  Inherited  Conceptions  of  Religion  as  Form.  All 
the  non-Christian  religions  make  religion  consist 
primarily  in  the  observance  of  forms  and  ceremonies. 
None  of  the  ethnic  faiths  establish  a  vital  connection 
with  conduct.  One  may  be  a  good  Buddhist  and  a  bad 
man.  The  most  notorious  profligates  in  Peking  are 
the  monks  in  the  Llama  Temple.  The  most  obscene 
images  and  practises  in  India  are  in  the  temples.  Re- 
sorts of  vice  in  Japan  are  openly  visited  by  Buddhist 
priests.  In  fact,  non-Christian  religions  are  not  relig- 
ions at  all  in  the  sense  in  which  we  use  the  term.  They 


66     RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

know  nothing  of  personal  relationship  to  a  holy  and 
loving  God  who  requires  of  a  man  a  pure  life  and  who 
communicates  to  him  the  power  to  live  it. 

When,  therefore,  an  Asiatic  becomes  a  Christian, 
his  idea  of  religion  as  form  clings  to  him.  He  is  apt 
to  interpret  the  new  teaching  in  terms  of  ceremonial 
rather  than  of  life.  It  is  not  easy  for  him  to  realize 
that  it  is  wrong  for  him  to  do  what  he  has  always  done 
as  a  matter  of  course,  and  that  "faith  apart  from 
works  is  dead."  It  is  hard  for  him  to  grasp  the  idea 
of  religion  as  a  faith  cleansing  the  heart  and  finding 
expression  in  a  transformed  life. 

This  difficulty  is  particularly  serious  in  the  so- 
called  Roman  Catholic  fields  of  Latin  America 
and  the  Philippine  Islands.  We  say  "so-called,"  for 
the  religion  of  these  lands  is  really  not  that  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  with  which  we  are  familiar  in 
the  United  States.  Nominally  indeed  it  is  the  same. 
Organization  and  ritual  and  other  formal  features  are 
identical.  But  priests  of  such  ignorance  and  supersti^ 
tion,  and  often  of  such  bad  personal  character  would 
not  be  tolerated  in  any  diocese  in  the  United  States. 
The  Roman  Catholicism  of  these  lands  is  only  a  thinly 
veneered  heathenism.  Prior  to  the  coming  of  Prot- 
estant missionaries  the  common  people  knew  little  or 
nothing  of  vital  religion.  Rome  had  exacted  from 
them  only  an  outward  obedience  to  prescribed  forms. 
They  were  accustomed  to  the  wholesale  methods  of 
external  conformity.  Our  conceptions  of  personal 
faith  were  strange  to  them.  I  was  in  a  Negros  market 


TEMPTATIONS  AND  DIFFICULTIES  67 

in  the  Philippines  one  evening,  when  "the  Angelas" 
sounded.  Instantly  a  hush  fell  upon  the  crowded 
booths  and  every  native  rose  and  stood  with  uncovered 
head  and  reverent  attitude  while  the  deep  tones  of  the 
church  bell  rolled  solemnly  through  the  darkening  air. 
But  a  moment  later  the  people  turned  again  to  their 
gamoling  and  bickering  and  bino  or  rice  whisky,  evi- 
dently without  the  faintest  idea  that  there  was  any 
connection  between  worship  and  conduct.  It  is  a  for- 
midable task  in  stfch  circumstances  to  build  up  a 
church  of  truly  regenerated  souls,  to  make  the  people 
realize  that  a  Christian  must  not  gamble  nor  be  im- 
moral, nor  spend  Sunday  afternoons  at  cock  fights, 
but  that  he  must  seek  to  know  and  to  follow  Christ  in 
sincerity  and  truth. 

10.  Evil  Conduct  of  Nominal  "Christians."  The 
evil  conduct  of  western  "Christians"  is  another  for- 
midable difficulty.  In  non-Christian  lands,  religion  is 
tribal  or  national.  Every  Chinese  is  supposed  to  be  a 
Confucianist,  every  Siamese  a  Buddhist,  every  Turk 
a  Moslem,  every  East  Indian  a  member  of  one  or 
the  other  of  the  many  religious  bodies  into  which  the 
population  is  divided.  Accustomed  to  classifying  men 
in  this  way,  Asiatics  naturally  imagine  that  every 
American  and  European  is  a  Christian.  They  there- 
fore give  Christianity  the  credit  or  blame  for  every- 
thing that  white  men  do.  The  result  is  that  this  imag- 
inary Christianity  is  sometimes  the  most  formidable 
obstacle  that  true  Christianity  encounters. 

Americans  have  sometimes  thoughtlessly  strength- 


68    RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

ened  this  impression  by  referring  to  the  nations  of 
Europe  and  America  as  "Christian  nations."  There 
are  no  Christian  nations.  Even  in  lands  where  there 
are  the  largest  number  of  individual  Christians,  the 
national  life  and  relationship  with  other  nations  cannot 
be  fairly  described  as  Christian  in  any  proper  sense. 
Decent  municipal  government  in  America  is  the  excep- 
tion rather  than  the  rule.  Many  states  are  notoriously 
dominated  by  corrupt  bosses  and  saloon  politics.  Na- 
tional policies  in  practically  all  western  lands  are  based, 
as  a  rule,  upon  desire  for  commercial,  territorial,  or 
political  aggrandizement — all  purely  material  and  self- 
ish. Gladstone  ought  to  know,  and  he  said  that  the  his- 
tory of  governments  is  the  most  immoral  part  of  his- 
tory. 

The  great  war  in  Europe  is  a  frightful  illustration 
of  the  fact  that  nations  are  not  Christian,  whatever 
many  of  their  citizens  may  be.  Leading  Christians  on 
both  sides  have  publicly  lamented  this.  Mr.  J.  H.  Old- 
ham  of  Edinburgh  voiced  the  common  opinion  when 
he  said:  "Whatever  be  the  distribution  of  immediate 
responsibility,  the  tragedy  in  which  the  nations  are  in- 
volved is  in  its  ultimate  nature  the  result  of  an  attitude 
and  temper  that  refuse  to  accept  the  law  of  Christ  as 
the  rule  of  life." 

Unchristian  Conduct.  The  dealings  of  white  nations 
with  Asia  and  Africa  have  been  characterized  by  deceit, 
cruelty,  and  wanton  aggression  to  an  extraordinary 
degree.  All  but  a  sixtieth  of  Africa,  nearly  all  of  the 
island  world,  and  many  parts  of  Asia  are  ruled  by 


TEMPTATIONS  AND  DIFFICULTIES  69 

"Christian"  nations  that  are  naturally  regarded  by  the 
natives  as  foreign  conquerors  and  are  hated  accord- 
ingly. 

The  foreign  settlements  in  the  port  cities  of  Asia 
and  Africa  are  notorious  sinks  of  iniquity.  Traders 
and  travelers  have  roamed  through  Asia  and  Africa 
for  many  years.  Some  of  them  are  men  of  high  char- 
acter ;  but  the  conduct  of  many  is  illustrated  by  Angus 
Hamilton,  who  proudly  wrote  in  his  book  on  Korea 
that  when  the  Korean  sellers  of  curios  became  impor- 
tunate, he  "found  a  specific  cure  for  their  pestiferous 
attentions  to  be  administered  best  in  the  shape  of  a 
little  vigorous  kicking."  A  sorcerer  so  aggravated 
him  that,  to  use  his  words:  "Losing  my  temper  and 
reason  altogether,  I  dropped  his  gongs  and  cymbals 
down  a  well,  depositing  him  in  it  after  them.  The 
interpreter  will  suggest  that  he  requires  a  servant. 
For  this  remark  he  should  be  flogged."  When  the 
poor  inhabitants  of  a  poverty-stricken  village  declined 
to  sell  him  their  scanty  stock  of  chickens,  "the  grooms, 
the  servants,  and  the  interpreter  at  once  tackled  the 
mob,  laying  about  them  with  their  whips  .  .  .  and 
fowls  and  eggs  were  at  once  forthcoming.  The  head 
groom  came  up  to  me,  demanding  an  increase  of  thirty 
dollars.  I  refused  and  thrashed  him  with  my  whip. 
The  end  of  my  journey  for  the  moment  had  come  with 
a  vengeance.  The  head  groom  stormed  and  cursed 
and  ran  raving  in  and  out  of  the  crowd.  He  then 
came  for  me  with  a  huge  boulder,  and  as  I  let  out 
upon  his  temple,  the  riot  began.  My  baggage  was 


70    RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

thrown  off  the  horses  and  stones  flew  through  the  air. 
I  hit  and  slashed  at  my  assailants  and  for  a  few  minutes 
became  the  center  of  a  very  nasty  situation."  Nasty, 
indeed!  It  would  have  been  still  nastier  if  he  had 
acted  that  way  in  America. 

In  Siam,  travelers  steal  images  of  Buddha  from  the 
temples.  In  India,  hotels  have  to  post  the  notice: 
"Visitors  will  be  good  enough  not  to  strike  the  serv- 
ants." Many  commercial  men  have  manifested  the 
same  spirit.  Gorst  says  that  "rapine,  murder,  and  a 
constant  appeal  to  force  chiefly  characterized  the  com- 
mencement of  Europe's  commercial  intercourse  with 
China." 

As  traders,  travelers,  and  officials  combined  greatly 
outnumber  missionaries,  they,  rather  than  missionaries, 
usually  determine  the  status  of  the  foreigner  in  the 
public  mind,  and  they  create  against  "Christians,"  as 
Asia  believes  them  to  be,  an  indiscriminate  hostility. 
Christianity  is  to  him  the  religion  of  the  white  man 
who  is  despoiling  his  territory,  undermining  his  na- 
tional independence,  upsetting  all  the  economic  condi- 
tions of  his  life,  swaggering  about  his  streets,  robbing 
him  of  his  goods,  and  insulting  his  women.  Imagining 
that  all  white  men  are  Christians,  he  blindly  hates  them 
all.  Viceroy  Li  Hung-chang  wrote  in  his  diary,  Febru- 
ary 17,  1886:  "I  am  more  and  more  convinced  that 
the  Christian  religion  is  not  so  much  hated  in  itself,  but 
that  the  animosity,  which  is  found  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent  throughout  China  against  the  'foreign  devils,'  is 
because  they  are  foreign.  The  foreigner  is  disliked, 


TEMPTATIONS  AND  DIFFICULTIES  71 

not  because  of  his  religion,  but  because  he  is  otherwise 
feared.  He  is  feared  not  at  all  in  this  year  because  he 
may  be  the  agent  of  Jesus  Christ  or  a  follower  of  that 
great  man,  but  as  a  possible  enemy  to  the  political  and 
industrial  independence  of  the  country."  1 

Asiatics  are  learning,  too,  of  the  many  unchristian 
things  that  are  done  in  professedly  Christian  lands. 
The  vice-mayor  of  Tokyo  said,  during  a  visit  to  the 
United  States,  that  the  most  serious  obstacle  to  the 
progress  of  Christianity  in  Japan  is  that  the  Japanese 
people  are  coming  to  know  America.  "The  young 
people  in  my  country,"  said  he,  "cannot  help  seeing 
that  Christians  in  America  care  most  about  material 
things,  not  about  the  things  of  the  spirit;  that  there  is 
little  reverence  here  and  many  evil  conditions.  That 
leads  them  to  wonder  if  Christianity  is  really  as  good 
as  the  missionaries  say." 

Meantime,  the  men  whose  evil  example  is  doing  so 
much  to  prejudice  the  good  name  of  Christianity 
abroad  are  the  very  ones  who  sneer  at  the  native 
Christian  and  loudly  assert  that  foreign  missions  are 
a  failure. 

It  will  be  readily  understood  that  the  demoralizing 
influence  of  such  antichristian  white  men  is  a  for- 
midable obstacle  to  the  Church  in  the  mission  field. 
It  is  a  stumbling-block  to  the  humble-minded  convert. 
It  shakes  his  faith  to  see  his  white  brothers  openly  do 
the  things  that  the  Bible  exhorts  him  not  to  do — swear, 
drink,  gamble,  cheat,  profane  the  Sabbath.  It  brings 

^Memoirs  of  Li  Hung  Chang,  40,  41 ;  cf.  also  58,  59. 


72     RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

upon  him  a  storm  of  reproach  from  his  neighbors  and 
friends  who  revile  him  for  being  associated  with 
"Christians."  No  other  temptation  or  difficulty  is  so 
grievous  to  him  as  this. 

Opposing  Forces 

The  Pull  of  the  World.  The  list  of  the  temptations 
and  difficulties  that  beset  the  Church  in  the  mission 
field  might  be  extended,  and  more  might  be  said,  and 
perhaps  should  be  said,  under  each  classification;  but 
perhaps  we  have  indicated  enough  to  give  some  idea  of 
what  a  young  man  or  young  woman  in  a  non-Chris- 
tian land  must  face  when  a  confession  of  Christ  is 
made.  All  the  customs,  traditions,  and  associations  of 
life  are  arrayed  against  him.  Family,  social,  and  finan- 
cial difficulties  close  around  him.  The  pull  of  ambition, 
of  financial  success,  of  social  recognition,  of  political 
preferment  is  away  from  Christianity.  The  change 
that  is  involved  in  his  own  heart  and  life  is  revolu- 
tionary. 

The  Power  of  the  Spirit.  .  "Out  there  the 
great  issue  is  tried  with  all  external  helps  re- 
moved. The  gospel  goes  with  no  subsidiary 
aids.  It  is  spoken  to  the  people  by  the  stam- 
mering lips  of  aliens.  Those  who  accept  it  do  so 
with  no  prospect  of  temporal  gain.  They  go  counter 
to  all  their  own  preconceptions  and  to  all  the  prejudices 
of  their  people.  Try  as  we  may  to  become  all 
things  to  all  men,  we  can  but  little  accommodate  our 
teaching  to  their  thought.  Often  and  often  have  I 


TEMPTATIONS  AND  DIFFICULTIES  73 

looked  into  the  faces  of  a  crowd  of  non-Christian 
Chinese  and  felt  keenly  how  many  barriers  lay  between 
their  minds  and  mine.  Reasoning  that  seems  to  me 
conclusive  makes  no  appeal  to  them.  I  have  often 
thought  that,  if  I  were  to  expend  all  my  energies  to 
persuade  one  Chinaman  to  change  the  cut  of  his  coat, 
I  should  certainly  plead  in  vain.  And  yet  I  stand  up 
to  beg  him  to  change  the  habits  of  a  lifetime,  to  break 
away  from  the  whole  accumulated  outcome  of  heredity, 
to  make  himself  a  target  for  the  scorn  of  the  world  in 
which  he  lives,  to  break  off  from  the  consolidated  social 
system  which  has  shaped  his  being,  and  on  the  bare 
word  of  an  unknown  stranger  to  plunge  into  the  haz- 
ardous experiment  of  a  new  and  untried  life,  to  be  lived 
on  a  moral  plane  still  almost  inconceivable  to  him, 
whose  sanctions  and  rewards  are  higher  than  his 
thoughts  as  heaven  is  higher  than  earth.  While  I 
despair  of  inducing  him  by  my  reasonings  to  make  the 
smallest  change  in  the  least  of  his  habits,  I  ask  him, 
not  with  a  light  heart  but  with  a  hopeful  one,  to  submit 
his  whole  being  to  a  change  that  is  for  him  the  making 
of  his  whole  world  anew.  The  missionary  must  either 
confess  himself  helpless,  or  he  must  to  the  last  fiber  of 
his  being  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost.  I  choose  to  believe, 
nay  I  am  shut  up  to  believe,  by  what  my  eyes  have 
seen."  * 

How  the  churches  in  the  mission  field  meet  this 
supreme  test  we  shall  see  in  the  next  chapter. 

\J.  Campbell  Gibson,  Mission  Problems  and  Mission  Methods 
in  South  China,  29,  30. 


IV 

CHARACTER  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  AND  RE- 
SULTANT CHARACTER  OF  THE  CHURCH 

Fruits  a  Test.  "By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know 
them,"  said  our  Lord.  No  other  religion  invites  this 
test;  no  other  can  meet  it.  We  have  seen  that  non- 
Christian  religions  establish  no  vital  connection  with 
conduct;  that,  while  some  of  their  founders  praised 
virtue,  their  present-day  requirements  do  not  include 
it,  nor  have  they  ever  communicated  power  for  it. 
Christianity,  however,  not  only  teaches  faith  but  a 
gospel  which  is  the  power  of  God,  and  it  makes  the 
resultant  character  a  test  of  the  genuineness  of  faith. 
"What  doth  it  profit,  my  brethren,"  said  James,  "if  a 
man  say  he  hath  faith,  but  have  not  works?  Can  that 
faith  save  him?  .  .  .  Faith,  if  it  have  not  works,  is 
dead."1  It  is  sadly  true  that  some  professed  Chris- 
tians both  at  home  and  abroad  are  condemned  by  this 
test,  sadly  true  that  churches  as  organized  bodies  have 
often  failed  to  attain  the  standard  for  which  their  Lord 
calls.  Nevertheless  we  must  apply  the  test,  and  whether 
we  do  or  not,  the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  will  certainly 
do  so.  In  Matthew  xxv.  31-46,  Christ  tells  us  that,  at 
the  final  judgment,  rewards  and  punishments  will  be 
assigned  on  the  basis,  not  of  faith,  but  of  character 
and  deeds. 

'James  ii.  14-17. 

75 


76     RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

Supporters  of  foreign  missionary  work  therefore 
have  a  right  to  ask  not  only  as  to  the  number  but  as 
to  the  kind  of  Christians  in  the  mission  field.  They 
should  not  indeed  demand  a  standard  of  consistency 
of  Christians  who  have  recently  emerged  from  pagan- 
ism which  has  not  yet  been  attained  by  the  Christians 
of  America  who  have  had  far  greater  advantages.  But 
they  are  justified  an  asking  what  degree  of  consistency 
has  been  attained,  and  what  promise  there  is  for  the 

future. 

Proofs  of  Character 

Repentance.  A  fair  test  to  begin  with  may  be  re- 
pentance. Do  facts  indicate  its  sincerity?  After  the 
Rev.  Eugene  P.  Dunlap  had  preached  for  a  month  in 
a  Siamese  village,  the  head  man  said  that  he  was  con- 
verted. How  did  the  villagers  know  that  he  was  telling 
the  truth,  especially  as  he  was  notorious  for  dishonesty, 
immorality,  and  cruelty?  He  brought  out  his  idols 
and  burned  them.  He  called  up  his  debtors  and,  to 
their  amazement,  paid  them  in  full.  He  put  away  his 
concubines,  making  provision  for  their  support  and 
declaring  that  he  would  live  with  one  wife.  He 
brought  out  his  bottles  of  liquor,  Scotch  whisky  and 
French  brandy,  and  broke  them.  He  asked  pardon  of 
all  whom  he  had  treated  unjustly.  Then  he  kneeled 
down  before  his  assembled  people  and  solemnly  ded- 
icated his  life,  his  family,  and  his  possessions  to  the 
service  of  Jesus  Christ.  A  Chinese  merchant  was  con- 
verted. How  did  any  one  know  that  he  was  ?  He  de- 
stroyed his  scales,  and  bought  new  ones.  Christianity 


CHARACTER  OF  CHRISTIAN  AND  CHURCH        77 

meant  to  him  after  his  conversion  full  weight.  There 
are  tradesmen  in  America  who  need  that  kind  of  con- 
version. 

The  Rev.  A.  W.  Halsey  says  that  he  met  a  head  man 
at  Lolodorf,  Africa,  who,  with  fifteen  others,  had 
walked  twenty-seven  miles  to  attend  the  church.  He 
was  a  man  of  more  than  ordinary  ability,  and  his  face 
was  radiant  as  he  worshiped  God.  When  converted, 
he  had  five  wives.  Wives  are  valuable  property  in 
Africa,  and  these  had  cost  him  money.  He  gave  up  a 
good  portion  of  his  fortune  when  he  sent  away  four  of 
his  five  wives,  refusing  to  take  money  for  them  and 
carefully  seeing  that  they  did  not  suffer. 

Missionary  letters  and  books  teem  with  similar  in- 
stances. The  destruction  of  household  idols,  the 
burning  of  opium-pipes,  the  liberation  of  slaves,  the 
payment  of  long-deferred  debts,  the  breaking  of  im- 
moral relations,  are  common  manifestations  of  conver- 
sion upon  which  non-Christian  neighbors  look  with 
wonder.  Missionaries  say  that  conversion  is  almost 
invariably  accompanied  by  confession  of  sin  and  resti- 
tution wherever  it  is  necessary  and  possible.  A  man  in 
Shansi  confessed  that  during  the  Boxer  uprising  he 
appropriated  a  large  sum  of  money  that  had  been  sent 
by  the  foreigners  in  Pingyang-fu  to  a  missionary  who 
afterwards  died;  and  now  after  the  lapse  of  years  he 
made  a  clean  breast  of  it.  As  one  of  the  humble 
hearers  said:  "The  Holy  Spirit  surely  has  come." 
Among  the  converts  in  Hinghwa,  in  the  Province  of 
Fukien,  were  members  of  a  firm  of  importers  of  mor- 


78     RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

phine.  They  brought  their  whole  stock  to  the  church 
and  turned  it  over  to  their  minister  to  be  destroyed. 

Confession  of  heinous  sins  by  professing  Christians 
during  the  intensity  of  revivals  has  been  cited  as  evi- 
dence that  the  Christianity  of  converts  was  shallow.  It 
is  odd  that  any  one  should  draw  such  a  conclusion. 
The  Spirit  of  God  led  those  humble  Asiatics  to  confess 
to  the  very  sins  which  are  notoriously  common  in 
Europe  and  America.  It  ill  becomes  travelers  from 
countries  where  such  sins  are  not  confessed  until  in- 
vestigations expose  them  to  criticize  Christians  in  Asia 
who  have  the  grace  to  confess  them  voluntarily. 

Home  Life.  Home  life,  as  Americans  are  familiar 
with  it,  is  almost  unknown  among  non-Christian 
peoples.  It  is  true  that  there  are  often  parental  affec- 
tion, filial  respect,  and  occasionally  real  love  between 
husband  and  wife.  But  those  qualities  which  go  to 
make  up  a  Christian  home  are  seldom  found.  The 
typical  non-Christian  house  of  the  common  people  is  a 
hovel,  destitute  of  comfort,  swarming  with  vermin, 
and  inhabited  by  slatternly  women  and  children  caked 
with  dirt.  The  wife  is  little  better  than  a  slave  and  is 
valued  by  her  husband  only  for  the  work  that  she  does 
and  the  children  that  she  bears.  Christianity  trans- 
forms these  homes.  The  traveler  can  usually  identify 
such  a  family  by  the  manifest  evidences  of  neatness, 
equality,  and  self-respect.  The  house,  however 
humble,  is  clean.  The  mother  and  children  are  clean. 
A  Christian  village  is  like  an  oasis  in  a  desert. 

Conduct.    Conduct  outside  of  the  home  is  character- 


CHARACTER  OF  CHRISTIAN  AND  CHURCH        79 

ized  by  like  transformation.  It  is  reported  that  there 
were  such  changes  in  the  lives  of  converts  after  evangel- 
istic meetings  in  one  city,  that  non-Christian  Chinese  on 
the  streets  said  to  one  another:  "The  Christian's  God 
has  come  down."  The  standards  insisted  upon  in  mo'st 
of  the  churches  in  the  mission  field  relate  not  only  to 
the  greater  sins  but  to  many  that  are  considered  venial 
even  in  America.  Church  -discipline  is  usually  strict. 
A 'member  who  does  not  have  family  prayers  and  ask 
a  blessing  at  meals,  who  does  not  observe  the  Sabbath 
or  regularly  attend  church,  is  called  to  account. 

The  Christian  is  a  marked  man  among  his  fellows, 
distinguished  not  merely  for  his  difference  in  faith, 
but  for  superior  morality,  thrift,  and  integrity.  The 
Siamese  Governor  of  Puket  was  so  impressed  by  the 
improvement  which  Christianity  had  wrought  in  the 
converts  in  his  province  that  he  said:  "Wherever  the 
Christian  missionary  settles,  he  brings  good  to  the 
people.  Progress,  beneficial  institutions,  cleanliness, 
and  uplifting  of  the  people  result  from  his  labors." 
The  High  Commissioner,  with  the  same  idea,  told  the 
Rev.  Eugene  P.  Dunlap,  in  1907,  that  he  would  give 
5,000  ticals1  for  a  hospital  in  Tap  Teang  and  10,000 
ticals  for  one  in  Puket  if  the  missionary  would  open 
permanent  stations ;  and  Prince  Damrong,  Minister  of 
the  Interior,  said  that  the  government  was  glad  to  give 
positions  to  the  kind  of  young  men  who  were  trained 
in  the  Bangkok  Christian  College,  because  they  pos- 
sessed the  qualities  of  intelligence,  ambition,  and  char- 

JThe  tical  of  Siam  has  a  value  of  39  cents. 


80    RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

acter  which  were  desired  in  official  service.  Several 
years  ago,  when  Chinese  merchants  were  asked  to  sub- 
scribe money  to  rebuild  a  bridge  which  had  been  de- 
stroyed by  a  flood,  they  imposed  the  condition  that  the 
money  should  be  expended  by  Christians  "because 
Christians  could  be  trusted  not  to  steal  it." 

"It  is  a  high  estimate  that  I  have  formed  of  the 
character  of  many  native  Christians,"  said  Sir  Andrew 
H.  L.  Eraser,  after  long  residence  in  India.  "There 
are  undoubtedly  some  natives  who  are  only  nominally 
Christian  and  who  give  an  evil  report  to  Christianity ; 
but  the  missionary  bodies  as  a  rule  are  careful  in  this 
matter;  and  we  have  no  reason  to  be  ashamed  of  our 
Indian  Christian  friends  for  whom  I  have  as  high  a 
regard  as  for  my  friends  in  the  West  and  whose  char- 
acters I  have  recognized  as  becoming  more  and  more 
Christlike  as  they  submit  themselves  to  his  teaching 
and  to  the  influence  of  his  spirit."1 

The  Bible.  The  knowledge  of  the  Bible  shown  by 
converts  in  mission  lands  should  shame  many  Chris- 
tians in  America.  The  police  of  a  certain  country  once 
professed  to  believe  that  a  mission  school  was  "sedi- 
tious," and  following  the  example  of  Russian  police  in 
such  circumstances,  they  arrested  all  the  native  teachers 
and  many  of  the  students  and  hurried  them  off  to  a  jail 
in  another  city.  The  Christians  had  no  idea  what  they 
had  been  arrested  for,  but  they  suspected  that  it  was 
on  account  of  their  faith  in  Christ.  Did  they  keep 
silence?  It  no  more  occurred  to  them  than  it  did  to 

1 Among  Indian  Rajahs  and  Ryots,  268,  269. 


KOREAN  WOMEX  GATHERED  FOR  BIBLE  STUDY 
KOREAN  MEN  GATHERED  FOR  BIBLE  STUDY 


CHARACTER  OF  CHRISTIAN  AND  CHURCH        81 

Paul  and  Silas.  When  they  were  led  through  the 
streets,  handcuffed  and  chained  to  one  another,  they 
sang  the  hymn :  "Glory  to  his  name."  Every  one 
felt  that  God  had  permitted  this  trial  because  he  had 
something  for  them  to  do  in  prison.  They  could  tell 
the  other  prisoners  about  Jesus,  as  Paul  had  done. 
They  had  their  Testaments  in  their  pockets.  When  the 
police  searched  them,  the  Christians  asked  permission 
to  keep  their  Testaments;  but  the  officers  refused,  ex- 
cept in  one  instance  where  one  of  the  teachers  per- 
suaded a  guard  to  let  him  keep  the  little  book. 

The  next  morning,  he  tore  his  New  Testament  leaf 
from  leaf  and  passed  the  leaves  through  the  cracks  be- 
tween his  cell  and  the  next  cell,  and  the  boys  there 
passed  them  on  into  the  next  cell,  and  so  on  until  every 
Christian  in  that  old  prison  had  leaves  from  the  Word 
of  God.  Each  one  took  his  leaf  and  committed  it  to 
memory,  then  exchanged  it  with  another  boy  and  com- 
mitted the  new  leaf,  until  they  had  committed  whole 
books  of  the  New  Testament.  In  the  months  of 
imprisonment,  some  committed  the  whole  of  the  New 
Testament.  When  they  came  from  prison  and  told 
this  story  to  the  missionary  who  narrated  it  to  me,  he 
tested  some  of  the  boys  as  to  the  truth  of  their  state- 
ment. "Repeat  John  vii.  36,"  he  said  to  one  boy.  How 
many  readers  of  this  page  can  give  it?  This  youth 
reflected  a  moment  how  the  seventh  chapter  of  John 
began,  ran  down  the  chapter  until  he  came  to  the 
thirty-sixth  verse,  and  then  repeated  it  word  for  word. 
Several  said  that,  while  they  were  being  tortured,  they 


82     RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

quietly  repeated  over  and  over  the  passages  which  they 
had  learned,  and  one  of  them  said:  "Jesus  came  so 
near,  oh,  so  near,  as  we  quoted  God's  Word." 

A  Sunday-school  worker  from  America,  visiting 
Korea  some  years  ago,  was  troubled  because  he  found 
what  seemed  to  be  a  small  proportion  of  children  in  the 
Sunday-schools.  The  fact  was  that  the  whole  of  each 
group  of  believers  was  in  Sunday-school  studying  the 
Word  of  God.  Practically  all  the  boys  and  girls  were 
there;  but  scattered  through  the  great  assemblages  with 
their  parents,  they  were  not  so  readily  noticed  by  an 
American  to  whom  a  Sunday-school  meant  a  gathering 
of  children  with  only  a  handful  of  adults.  Korea  has 
the  best  kind  of  Sunday-schools,  for  they  are  congre- 
gational Bible  schools.  In  addition  to  the  customary 
public  worship,  the  entire  congregation  meets  at  a 
separate  hour  for  Bible  study,  adults  and  children 
studying  the  Scriptures  together. 

Bible  training  classes  are  a  prominent  feature  of 
Christian  work  in  many  fields,  the  people  at  stated 
seasons  gathering  in  multitudes  for  one  or  more  weeks 
of  special  study.  These  training  classes  have  become  a 
conspicuous  feature  of  the  work  of  several  fields.  Be- 
ginning with  one  class  of  seven  men  in  1891,  the  classes 
in  one  mission  alone  have  increased  in  numbers  until 
in  a  recent  year  1,821  classes  enrolled  47,484  members. 
All  expenses  are  met  by  the  native  Christians.  It  is 
not  uncommon  for  men  to  walk  two  hundred  miles  to 
these  classes. 

The  following  extracts  from  letters  are  samples  of 


CHARACTER  OF  CHRISTIAN  AND  CHURCH        83 

scores  that  I  might  cite  from  my  regular  correspond- 
ence: "The  men's  class  which  has  just  closed  was 
attended  by  500  men.  They  came  from  all  parts  of 
the  Province  and  studied  well.  The  spirit  was  fine." 
"We  have  just  closed  a  splendid  men's  Bible  class  of 
ten  days.  The  attendance  was  358."  "The  whole 
number  in  my  circuit  alone  during  this  past  winter 
exceeds  6,500  persons  who  studied  the  Bible  regularly 
for  a  week  or  more."  "The  little  bands  of  Christians 
scattered  through  the  mountain  villages  appreciate  the 
light  and  joy  the  gospel  brings  into  their  dark  lives. 
The  other  day  I  noticed  a  niche  in  the  bank  near  some 
workmen,  and  I  saw  that  it  contained  four  Testaments 
and  hymn-books.  Then  I  remembered  how  I  had 
found  one  of  my  coolies  on  the  top  of  a  pass,  resting 
by  the  side  of  his  load  and  reading  Mark's  Gospel  and 
that  I  had  heard  him  offer  a  helpful  prayer  in  a  meet- 
ing when  he  was  only  one  year  old  in  his  Christian  life. 
As  I  stood  thinking  of  these  things,  the  men  came 
around  the  bank,  laid  down  their  shovels  and  picks  and 
asked  me  to  lead  their  rest-time  prayer-meeting." 
Where  in  America  do  laboring  men  take  Testaments 
and  hymn-books  to  their  daily  toil  and  bow  in  prayer 
after  their  noon-day  lunch? 

Prayer.  The  prayer  life  is  often  one  of  marked 
power.  The  family  altar  is  the  rule  in  Christian  homes 
in  the  mission  field,  and  no  meal  is  eaten  without  asking 
the  blessing  of  God  upon  it.  The  prayer-meeting,  like 
the  Sunday-school,  is  usually  attended  by  a  majority 
of  the  membership,  while  in  the  United  States  the 


84    RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

average  attendance  is  about  one  tenth.  I  attended  the 
prayer-meeting  in  the  Yun  Mot  Kol  Church  in  Seoul 
on  a  rainy  night.  A  native  Christian  led,  and  the 
people  did  not  know  that  a  traveler  would  be  present; 
but  I  found  a  thousand  Christians  assembled!  Twelve 
hundred  people  packed  the  Syen  Chun  Church  the 
evening  we  spent  there.  This  was  larger  than  usual, 
but  the  ordinary  attendance  at  these  week-night  meet- 
ings exceeds  that  of  a  good-sized  Sunday  morning  con- 
gregation in  America.  It  is  worth  going  far  to  hear 
those  Christians  pray.  They  kneel  with  their  faces  to 
the  floor  and  utter  petitions  as  those  who  know  what 
it  is  to  have  daily  communion  with  God. 

A  missionary  in  China  says  that  the  prayerfulness 
of  the  two  Chinese  pastors  in  his  station  has  been  a 
rebuke  and  an  inspiration  to  him.  "Their  conversa- 
tion is  usually  on  the  Scriptures,  the  passages  of  which 
they  can  find  better  than  any  foreigner  I  know;  and 
their  thoughts  are  much  on  the  problems  of  the  little 
groups  of  Christians.  Often  on  the  road  we  have 
stopped  and  prayed  specifically  for  what  the  leaders 
had  jotted  down  of  definite  petitions  for  particular 
needs.  The  reality,  sincerity,  and  naturalness  of  their 
prayers,  both  in  thanksgiving  and  petition,  have  im- 
pressed me.  Men  who  are  not  living  in  the  Spirit 
cannot  'get  up'  such  prayers  as  these  Christians  pray 
all  the  time." 

The  Chinese  believers  of  Chefoo,  burdened  for  the 
salvation  of  their  countrymen,  invited  pastors  and 
leading  members  of  churches  in  all  the  surrounding* 


CHARACTER  OF  CHRISTIAN  AND  CHURCH        85 

country  to  join  them  in  a  season  of  intercessory  prayer, 
subscribing  liberally  to  pay  for  the  entertainment  of 
the  guests.  The  members  of  a  training  school  for 
Bible  women  fasted  three  times  a  week  for  a  month 
and  paid  the  money  saved  into  the  entertainment  fund. 
Pastors  in  scores  of  places  began  to  pray,  first  for  a 
revival  in  their  own  hearts  and  then  in  the  church  and 
community;  and  the  prayers  were  answered.  Daily 
meetings  twice  a  day  for  fifty  days  had  prepared  the 
way  to  expect  great  things  from  God,  and  thousands 
were  present  instead  of  the  hundreds  anticipated. 
Four  simultaneous  meetings  on  the  closing  night  ag- 
gregated 7,000  people. 

"Pray!  pray!"  exclaimed  a  Chinese  Christian  as  he 
looked  from  a  hilltop  upon  villages  that  knew  nothing 
of  Christ.  He  and  his  companions  were  standing;  but, 
when  they  finished  their  intercession,  they  were  pros- 
trate on  their  faces. 

Some  African  Christians  covenanted  together  that 
each  would  select  a  retired  spot  in  the  forest  to  which 
he  would  go  daily  for  solitary  communion  with  God. 
If  any  member  of  the  little  band  appeared  to  be  grow- 
ing cold  in  his  Christian  life,  one  of  the  others  would 
gently  inquire:  "Is  the  grass  growing  on  your  path, 
brother?" 

Giving.  A  good  test  of  Christian  character  is  giv- 
ing. We  count  it  so  at  home,  and  it  is  even  a  severer 
test  on  the  foreign  field  where  poverty  is  bitter  and 
the  struggle  for  existence  barely  keeps  people  from 
starvation. 


86     RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

Financial  sacrifice  in  Christian  work  is  so  common 
as  to  be  accepted  as  a  matter  of  course.  Boon  Itt,  a 
gifted  Siamese,  refused  a  government  position  at 
$4,000  a  year  and  became  an  evangelist  at  $600.  An 
African  teacher,  at  Benito,  who  was  receiving  five 
dollars  a  month  from  the  mission,  refused  an  offer  of 
twenty  dollars  a  month  from  the  Spanish  governor. 
A  missionary  in  Egypt  writes  of  a  man  who  left 
an  influential  home  of  the  old  Turko-Egyptian  aris- 
tocracy, to  earn  little  more  than  a  laborer's  pittance 
and  to  live  in  one  cheap  room  in  a  poor  district,  on 
the  simplest  fare,  but  with  a  well-spring  of  joy  in  his 
heart.  How  many  of  us  comfortable  Christians  at 
home  would  come  successfully  through  the  same  test? 
A  Chinese  minister  on  $7.50  a  month  declined  an  offer 
from  the  city  officials  to  superintend  a  public  school  at 
three  times  his  salary,  saying :  "China  must  have  Christ, 
even  if  I  starve." 

When  the  little  company  of  believers  in  Caracas, 
Venezuela,  heard  that  the  European  war  had  seriously 
interfered  with  the  receipts  of  the  Board  in  New  York, 
they  made  a  self-denial  offering  of  $35.  An  elder 
wrote:  "Our  people  came  very  gladly,  bringing  every 
one  a  little  envelope  containing  his  gift.  We  know  our 
duty  to  give  to  the  cause  of  the  gospel,  though  we  can- 
not give  as  much  as  we  owe.  Our  people  are  very  poor 
and  few.  We  know  that  you  have  many  difficulties 
there  in  these  present  times  of  war,  and  the  difficulties 
here  especially  are  great.  The  houses  are  very  dear, 
but  now  is  your  opportunity  and  ours.  We  have  the 


CHARACTER  OF  CHRISTIAN  AND  CHURCH        87 

hope  in  the  Lord.  God  bless  you  until  he  comes! 
Know,  my  brethren,  your  work  in  the  Lord  is  not  in 
vain.  It  is  not  a  waste,  as  Judas  thought  when  Mary 
brought  the  very  precious  ointment  of  spikenard  to 
anoint  Jesus.  No,  many  of  us  will  give  testimony 
to  your  work  in  the  presence  of  Jesus  when  he  comes 
upon  the  clouds.  We  send  these  letters  to  express 
our  gratefulness,  asking  the  Lord  to  help  you  to  the 
glory  of  Jesus  in  his  Kingdom.  Amen." 

This  offering  meant  to  that  handful  of  poor  people 
as  much  as  $350  would  have  meant  to  an  equal  number 
of  Christians  in  the  United  States,  and  the  loving 
letter  was  a  treasure  beyond  price. 

Loyalty.  Loyalty  to  the  Church  is  marked.  The 
Christians  look  upon  their  Church  as  the  center  of 
their  lives  and  they  give  to  it  the  devotion  of  their 
hearts.  Bishop  Thoburn  said  that  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  at  Rangoon,  Burma,  was  the  best  work- 
ing church  he  had  known  in  any  land.  Ill  health  com- 
pelled the  two  missionaries  at  Efulen,  Africa,  to  go  to 
America,  and  two  years  passed  before  they  could  re- 
turn to  the  field.  They  had  left  six  believers,  for  the 
station  was  then  young.  They  dared  not  hope  that 
they  would  find  any  left,  for  how  could  six  new  con- 
verts stand  alone  in  an  interior  African  village  ?  They 
found  that  the  little  company  had  met  several  times 
every  week  for  prayer  and  Bible  study  and  that  they 
had  witnessed  so  faithfully  for  Christ  that  all  the 
neighboring  villages  knew  that  there  were  "Jesus  men" 
in  Efulen.  One  does  not  wonder  that  from  such  a 


88     RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

beginning  the  church  at  Efulen  is  now  a  great  con- 
gregation. 

The  old  Spanish  house  in  which  we  were  entertained 
during  our  visit  in  Iloilo,  Philippine  Islands,  had  a 
wide  hall  with  a  broad  flight  of  stairs.  About  five 
o'clock  Saturday  afternoon  I  was  startled  to  find  the 
hall  and  stairs  packed  with  Filipinos,  sitting  quietly 
on  the  floor  and  steps.  They  had  walked  in,  men, 
women,  and  children,  from  the  outlying  villages,  some 
of  them  four  hours  distant,  in  order  to  attend  the  Sun- 
day service.  So  many  regularly  did  this,  coming  Sat- 
urday and  remaining  till  Monday,  that  the  missionaries 
were  obliged  to  rent  a  large  room  in  which  the  men 
could  spend  the  nights,  the  women  occupying  the 
chapel.  They  brought  their  own  food  or  bought  it  in 
Iloilo,  and  they  contentedly  slept  on  the  floor.  When 
men  and  women  walk  fifteen  miles  under  a  hot  sun  and 
sleep  two  nights  on  a  board  floor  to  attend  a  plain 
chapel  where  there  were  no  altar  lights  or  gorgeous 
vestments  or  fragrant  incense,  but  only  the  preaching 
of  the  simple  gospel  of  divine  love,  there  must  be  some- 
thing more  than  curiosity  in  their  hearts. 

Growth  in  Grace.  Growth  in  grace  is  not  uniform 
in  all  fields  nor  characteristic  of  every  group  of  believ- 
ers in  any  field ;  but  it  is  so  marked  in  the  Christian 
body  as  a  whole  that  almost  every  observant  visitor  is 
impressed  by  it.  One  might  say  of  many  churches  in 
Asia  and  Africa  what  Dr.  Charles  R.  Watson  said 
after  a  visit  to  Egypt :  "The  native  Church  is  enjoying 
a  deeper  spiritual  life.  Conferences  for  spiritual  quick- 


CHARACTER  OF  CHRISTIAN  AND  CHURCH        89 

ening  are  held  annually.  Those  held  by  and  for  women 
are  marked  by  unusual  blessing.  There  is  a  readiness 
to  try  new  methods  of  work  and  to  launch  out  upon 
new  fields,  perhaps  the  clearest  proof  of  a  fuller  recog- 
nition of  the  Spirit's  leadership!" 

There  is  something  very  beautiful  in  the  devotion 
of  these  children  of  God.  The  message  of  the  gospel 
goes  straight  to  their  hearts  and  it  strangely  stirs  them. 
"These  peoples  are  by  nature  eloquent,"  says  a  mis- 
sionary in  the  Philippines.  "As  the  truths  of  God's 
word  sink  deeper  into  them,  and  as  the  Spirit  of  God 
in  answer  to  earnest  prayer  reveals  his  wonderful  love 
and  salvation,  they  forget  themselves  and  speak  with 
a  power  that  astonishes  their  countrymen.  We  have 
never  attended  greater  spiritual  feasts  than  their 
weekly  prayer-meetings.  These  simple  people  take 
God  at  his  word,  and  he  honors  their  faith." 

One  of  the  most  touching  instances  of  the  char- 
acter of  the  Christian  and  its  far-reaching  influence 
is  enshrined  in  one  of  the  last  places  where  one  would 
have  expected  to  find  it,  the  Memoirs  of  Li  Hung 
Chang.  How  could  a  humble  believer  impress  the 
mighty  Viceroy  and  Grand  Councilor  of  the  Chinese 
Empire?  The  world  knew  nothing  of  the  circum- 
stances till  the  diary  of  the  Viceroy  was  published  and 
then  it  read  this  moving  narrative : 

"July  28. — I  cannot  think  that  all  people  are  bad, 
for  to-day  I  had  an  experience  that  makes  me  think 
that,  outside  of  riches  and  honors,  there  are  small  hap- 
penings which  touch  a  man's  heart  and  make  him  feel 


90     RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

that  humanity  is  not  all  iron  and  gain  and  falsehood. 
For  to-day  this  yamen,  which  for  twenty-four  years 
had  been  mine,  was  the  destination  of  a  great  mission 
such  as  never  came  within  the  compound  before.  I 
nearly  wept  to  receive  them.  Two  native  Christians 
all  the  way  from  that  miserable  town  in  Japan  to  bring 
me  here  medicines  for  my  head  and  to  see  if  I  was 
getting  better!  I  wonder  if  this  is  because  Christianity 
teaches  such  things?  It  must  be  some  new  ideas  that 
this  man  and  boy  got  into  their  heads  to  make  them  do 
such  a  thing.  .  .  .  His  name,  he  said,  was  Sato, 
and  the  boy  that  accompanied  him  was  his  thirteen- 
year-old  son.  Sato  said  that  all  the  native  Christians 
in  the  little  mission  at  Ketuki,  near  Moji — the  mis- 
sion that  had  at  first  sent  the  delegation  to  my  sick- 
room with  flowers — had  talked  about  me  every  day 
since  I  was  there  and  had  prayed  to  the  Christian  God 
for  my  recovery. 

"Then  he  explained  that  all  his  friends  were  very 
anxious  to  know  how  I  was  getting  along.  Some- 
times, he  said,  they  would  hear  that  I  was  entirely 
well,  and  again  it  would  be  reported  that  I  was  dead ; 
so  they  couldn't  stand  the  uncertainty  any  longer, 
and  collected  money  between  them  and  sent  Sato  with 
a  message  of  good-will  and  some  herb  medicines. 

"I  took  the  medicines  and  had  my  two  visitors  served 
with  the  nicest  kind  of  boiled  chicken,  some  chicken 
tongue  on  crackers,  rice,  cakes,  and  tea.  I  wanted 
them  to  stay  with  me  for  a  few  days,  telling  them 
that  I  would  treat  them  well;  but  Mr.  Sato  said  he 


CHARACTER  OF  CHRISTIAN  AND  CHURCH        91 

was  already  almost  sick  unto  death  to  get  back  home, 
and  that  he  had  once  or  twice  nearly  turned  back, 
especially  as  his  son  was  so  lonely.  When  they  were 
ready  to  go,  I  gave  them  a  big  bundle  of  presents  of  all 
kinds  for  their  friends  back  at  Ketuki,  two  hundred 
taels1  for  the  mission,  and  as  much  more  to  reimburse 
them  for  the  outlay  of  the  journey.  This  last  he  did 
not  want  to  accept,  saying  that  as  he  had  funds  suf- 
ficient to  take  him  home  he  was  fearful  that  the  friends 
who  had  sent  him  might  not  like  it.  But  I  prevailed 
upon  him  to  take  the  money. 

"I  think  this  Christianity  makes  poor  and  lowly 
people  bold  and  unafraid,  for  before  Mr.  Sato  and 
his  boy  left  he  wanted  to  know  if  they  might  pray 
for  me.  I  said  they  could,  expecting  that  he  meant 
when  they  got  back  home  again;  but  he  said  some- 
thing to  the  little  son,  and  they  knelt  right  there  at 
the  door  and  said  a  prayer.  I  could  not  keep  my  heart 
from  thumping  in  my  bosom  as  I  watched  that  poor 
man  and  his  frightened  little  boy  praying  to  God — the 
God  that  will  deal  with  me  and  with  them  and  all 
mankind — that  I  might  be  well  of  my  injuries.  I  was 
sorry  to  see  them  go. 

"In  this  old  .yamen,  which  for  twenty  odd  years  was 
mine,  strange  scenes  have  been  enacted,  great  councils 
held,  and  midnight  conferences  affecting  the  whole 
world  have  taken  place.  I  have  received  royalties  and 
dukes,  ambassadors,  ministers,  murderers,  robbers,  and 
beggars.  Men  have  been  sentenced  to  death  from 

'The  tael  has  a  value  of  about  65  cents. 


92    RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

here,  others  have  been  made  glad  with  leases  of  lands, 
railroad  contracts,  or  the  gift  of  public  office.  But 
during  each  and  every  occurrence,  whatever  its  nature, 
I  have  been  complete  master  of  my  house  and  myself 
— until  an  hour  ago.  Then  it  was  that  for  the  first 
time  did  I  believe  the  favor  was  being  conferred  upon 
me. 

"Poor,  good  Mr.  Sato,  all  the  way  from  Japan  to 
offer  a  Christian  prayer  for  the  'heathen'  old  Viceroy ! 
I  did  not  know  that  any  one  outside  my  own  family 
cared  enough  about  me  for  such  a  thing.  I  do  not 
love  the  Japanese,  but  perhaps  Christianity  would  help 
them!"1 

Endurance.  Fortitude  under  persecution  is  a  su- 
preme test.  Many  Christians  in  Asia  and  Africa  have 
suffered  grievously  for  their  faith.  Chinese  believers 
have  given  examples  of  constancy  in  suffering  which 
the  world  will  not  soon  forget.  Their  behavior  under 
the  baptism  of  blood  and  fire  to  which  they  were  sub- 
jected in  the  Boxer  uprising  bore  eloquent  testimony 
to  the  genuineness  of  their  faith.  Could  American 
Christians  have  endured  such  a  strain  without  flinch- 
ing? Let  those  who  can  worship  God  in  safety  be 
thankful  that  they  have  never  been  subjected  to  that 
supreme  test.  But  the  fortitude  of  the  persecuted 
Chinese  believers  was  so  remarkable  that  in  many 
cases  the  Boxers  cut  out  the  hearts  of  their  victims  to 
find  the  secret  of  such  sublime  faith.  The  blood  of 
those  heroic  men  and  women  will  forever  silence  the 


^Memoirs  of  Li  Hung  Ctiang,  118-122. 


CHARACTER  OF  CHRISTIAN  AND  CHURCH        93 

flippant  charge  that  the  Chinese  are  "rice  Christians." 
Insincere  believers  do  not  die  for  their  faith  when 
recantation  would  save  their  lives. 

When  Asaad  Shidiak,  a  Syrian  Maronite  and  former 
secretary  of  the  Patriarch,  declared  his  faith  in  Christ, 
the  Patriarch  first  tried  persuasion  and  the  bribe  of 
promotion  and  then  the  threat  of  excommunication. 
When  Asaad  Shidiak  stood  fast,  his  marriage  was 
annulled,  his  relatives  turned  him  over  to  the  angry 
Patriarch,  who  threw  him  into  jail,  put  heavy  chains 
on  his  wrists  and  ankles,  and  gave  him  the  alternative 
of  kissing  an  image  in  token  of  repentance  or  kissing 
burning  coals.  He  chose  the  burning  coals,  pressed 
them  to  his  lips,  and  with  a  scorched  and  blackened 
mouth  returned  to  his  cell.  At  length  they  built  around 
him  a  wall,  leaving  but  a  small  aperture  through  which 
he  could  get  breath  and  they  could  pass  him  enough 
food  to  keep  him  alive  and  so  prolong  his  sufferings. 

"They  killed  the  body,"  said  Arthur  T.  Pierson, 
"but,  before  it  gave  up  the  ghost,  Asaad  Shidiak,  the 
Maronite  martyr,  had  proved  to  them  that  they  could 
not  subdue  the  spirit  of  one  whom  the  Lord  had  led 
into  the  clear  light  of  his  own  truth  and  the  fellowship 
of  his  dear  Son." 

The  Rev.  C.  W.  Briggs,  a  Baptist  missionary  in 
Jaro,  tells  of  Piementel,  a  Filipino  Christian,  who  was 
seized  by  Filipino  officials  and  locked  up  in  a  dungeon. 
While  he  was  asleep,  some  Filipino  policemen  came 
into  his  cell  and  clubbed  him  with  the  butts  of  their 
guns,  fracturing  his  skull,  breaking  his  cheek  bones 


94     RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

and  crushing  in  his  forehead.  They  finally  left  him 
for  dead.  In  the  morning  he  was  still  conscious,  and 
an  American  doctor  taking  pity  on  him,  took  him  to 
the  hospital,  raised  the  sunken  bones  as  far  as  pos- 
sible, and  after  two  or  three  months,  poor  Piementel 
was  again  able  to  get  back  to  his  home.  This  is  the 
man  about  whom  the  people  gathered  at  Barotac  as  he 
preached  the  gospel.  His  face  is  terribly  disfigured 
and  his  head  broken,  but  a  look  of  divine  joy  shines 
in  his  countenance  in  spite  of  the  scars. 

Types  of  Experience.  It  is  interesting  to  note  the 
various  types  of  religious  experience  that  are  develop- 
ing. Differing  temperaments,  environments,  and  na- 
tional conditions  are  influencing  not  only  the  methods 
of  the  missionary  but  the  faith  and  life  of  the  Christian. 
The  missionaries  in  each  country  have  felt  that  the 
character  and  trend  of  the  native  mind  with  which  they 
had  to  deal  called  for  special  emphasis  upon  certain 
doctrines,  which,  while  not  at  variance  with  evangelical 
doctrines  that  some  other  missionaries  were  emphasiz- 
ing, were  different  from  them.  The  range  of  New 
Testament  teaching  is  wide,  and  each  national  group  of 
Christians,  like  each  individual  believer,  instinctively 
appropriates  the  truths  which  impress  them  as  best 
adapted  to  their  needs.  The  despairing,  poverty- 
stricken,  emotional  Korean  approaches  Christ  from  a 
different  angle  than  the  proud,  martial,  ambitious 
Japanese.  Korean  and  Japanese  types  of  Christianity 
are  therefore  quite  different,  and  the  missionaries  in 
each  country,  even  of  the  same  communions,  have 


CHARACTER  OF  CHRISTIAN  AND  CHURCH        95 

been  more  or  less  unconsciously  molded  accordingly. 
In  like  manner  we  find  characteristic  types  among  the 
mystical  East  Indians,  the  practical  Chinese,  the  child- 
like Africans,  the  easy-going  Siamese,  the  restless 
Arabians,  the  dignified  Persians,  the  subject  Nestor- 
ians,  and  the  warlike  Turks.  A  fascinating  book 
might  be  written  on  these  and  other  varieties  of  Chris- 
tian experience.  But  however  distinct  the  types,  the 
composite  of  them  all  is  slowly  but  surely  forming 
under  the  common  influence  of  growing  knowledge,  of 
closer  relations  in  this  era  of  international  communi- 
cation, and,  above  all,  of  the  common  guidance  of  the 
Spirit  of  God.  In  far  separated  lands  they  dwell. 
Many  languages  voice  their  spiritual  aspirations. 
Darkness  still  covers  their  earth  and  gross  darkness 
their  peoples.  But  the  Lord  has  arisen  upon  them  and 
his  glory  is  already  seen  upon  them.1 

Roll  of  Honor 

One  could  wish  that  the  limits  of  this  book  would 
permit  an  adequate  account  of  some  outstanding 
Asiatic  and  African  Christians. 

Earlier  Lives.  We  suggest  that  the  reader  look  up 
such  sketches  as  that  of  the  Moslem  Kamil2  whom 
Henry  H.  Jessup  characterized  as  a  Christian  of 
apostolic  devotion  and  beauty  of  character ;  the  Syrian 
Habeeb3  whose  story  is  told  by  William  S.  Nelson; 
Honda,  the  first  Japanese  Methodist  Bishop4;  Joseph 

'Isa.  ix.  i,  2.  *Kamil. 

*Habeeb  the  Beloved. 
'Griffis,  William  E.,  Honda. 


96     RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

Hardy  Neesima,1  the  founder  of  the  Doshisha;  Paul, 
the  Apostle  of  the  Congo2 ;  Old  Wang3 ;  and  Pastor 
Hsi4  of  China;  Chundra  Lela,5  the  devoted  evangelist 
in  India;  Tiyo  Soga,6  of  South  Afdca,  and  Bishop 
Crowther7  of  the  Niger. 

Present  Generation.  Of  the  present  generation, 
we  must  place  high  on  the  roll  of  great  Christian  lead- 
ers such  men  as  Ding  Li  Mei,  "the  Apostle  Paul  of 
China" ;  Elijah  Makiwane,  the  able  and  cultured  Kafir 
of  South  Africa8;  Azariah,  the  first  native  Anglican 
Bishop  in  India;  the  patriarchal  Chatterjee,  Moderator 
of  the  First  Presbyterian  General  Assembly  of  India; 
Noboru  Watanabe,  Japanese  Chief  Justice  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  Korea;  Dr.  Fasuka  Harada,  President 
of  the  Doshisha;  Uemura,  the  great  preacher,  editor, 
and  theologian  of  Tokyo;  Lu  Bi  Cu,  physician  in 
China;  Francis  Kingsbury,  associate  evangelist  of 
Mr.  Eddy  in  India ;  C.  T.  Wang,  statesman  and  Chris- 
tian worker  in  China;  Pastor  Kil,  Korean  evangelist; 
Yun  Chi  Ho,  the  Korean  patriot  and  Christian  edu- 
cator ;  and  Dr.  Rhee,  educator  in  Korea. 

And  what  more  shall  I  say?     For  the  time  would 


,  Arthur  S.,  Life  and  Letters  of  Joseph  Hardy  Neesima. 
'Richards,  Henry,  "Paul  the  Apostle  of  Banza  Manteke." 
8Ross,  J.,  Old  Wang:  First  Chinese  Evangelist  in  Manchuria. 
4Taylor,  Mrs.  H.,  Pastor  Hsi. 
'Griffin,  Z.  F.,  Chundra  Lela. 
"Cousins,  H.  T.,  Tiyo  Soga. 
7Page,  J.,  The  Black  Bishop. 

'Article,    "Notable    Native    Pioneers,"    United    Free    Church 
Missionary  Magazine,  April,  1914. 


CHARACTER  OF  CHRISTIAN  AND  CHURCH        97 

fail  me  to  call  the  roll  of.  those  whom  God  is  raising 
up  to  lead  his  people  in  the  era  that  is  swiftly  coming 
in  the  lands  that  are  now  called  non-Christian. 

If,  as  Amiel  said,  "the  test  of  every  religious,  polit- 
ical, or  educational  system  is  the  man  which  it  forms," 
Christianity  is  meeting  the  test  in  the  mission  field. 

Safe  Grounds  of  Judgment.  As  I  close  this  chapter, 
I  realize  that  my  description  of  the  Christians  in  the 
mission  field  has  not  included  an  account  of  their  im- 
perfections. They  have  them.  But  I  confess  that, 
as  I  think  of  my  brethren  in  non-Christian  lands,  I 
do  not  find  myself  in  a  critical  mood.  They  are  so 
much  better  than  we  might  have  expected  them  to  be, 
they  are  witnessing  for  Christ  in  such  difficult  condi- 
tions and  with  such  patience  and  courage  and  love, 
that  criticism  is  disarmed.  If  you  want  to  know  what 
their  failings  are,  ask  yourself  what  yours  are.  They 
are  the  same  and  you  can  catalog  them  at  your  leisure. 

But  surely  our  Master  who  tempers  his  judgments 
with  kindly  consideration  of  circumstances,  who  knows 
our  frame  and  remembers  that  we  are  dust,  will  deal 
more  mercifully  with  the  Christians  in  the  mission  field 
than  he  will  with  us ;  for  some  of  these  also  have  come 
out  of  great  tribulation,  and  they  shall  be  among  those 
who  stand  before  the  throne  of  God  forever. 


V 

PRESENT  STRENGTH  AND  INFLUENCE 
OF  THE  CHURCH 

Statistics 'are  said  to  be  dry.  If  they  are,  it  is  be- 
cause we  do  not  stop  to  consider  what  they  mean. 
Missionary  statistics  throb  with  life.  They  tabulate 
the  visible  results  of  years  of  devoted  toil  by  men  and 
women  of  whom  the  world  is  not  worthy. 

General  Survey 

Statistical  Data  Difficult.  Accuracy  in  such  sta- 
tistics is  peculiarly  difficult.  It  is  not  easy  to  collect 
reliable  data  of  churches  in  America.  The  task  is 
enormously  increased  when  we  deal  with  churches  in 
many  widely  separated  lands,  which  are  under  a  dis- 
tracting variety  of  organizations,  and  whose  affilia- 
tions are  with  hundreds  of  different  agencies  whose 
methods  of  computation  are  not  uniform.  Moreover, 
the  rapidity  of  growth  in  some  fields  is  so  great  that 
figures  are  often  out  of  date  by  the  time  they  can  be 
published.  The  most  careful  work  on  this  subject  is 
done  by  the  Special  Committee  on  Statistics  of  the  Con- 
tinuation Committee  and  the  Committee  on  the  Home 
Base  of  the  Foreign  Missions  Conference  of  North 
America. 

99 


100  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

Some  World  Totals.  The  latest  obtainable  reports1 
,give  3,167,614  communicants;  130,262  native  min- 
isters, evangelists,  teachers,  and  other  workers;  and 
1,869,145  enrolled  in  Sunday-schools.  This  indicates  a 
Christian  community,  including  communicants,  Sun- 
day-school children,  other  members  of  Christian  fam- 
ilies, and  adherents,  of  7,253,836.  These  figures  do  not 
include  multitudes  who  have  been  more  or  less  defi- 
nitely influenced  by  the  Christian  movement,  some  of 
whom  are  willing  to  be  known  as  Christians  as  distin- 
guished from  men  of  other  religions.  The  government 
census  of  India,  to  be  noted  presently,  is  an  instance 
of  t-his. 

No  Padded  Returns.  These  statistics  afford  splen- 
did evidence  that  churches  of  no  mean  strength  have 
been  developed  in  the  mission  field.  The  churches  are 
stronger  than  the  figures  indicate,  for  allowance  must 
be  made  for  the  conservatism  of  missionaries  in  enroll- 
ing converts.  They  know  that  supporters  at  home 
want  reports  of  large  accessions;  but  previous  expe- 
rience has  taught  caution.  An  applicant  for  baptism 
does  not  always  clearly  understand  what  Christianity 
means.  Sometimes,  too,  unworthy  motives  exist — 
hope  of  employment  or  desire  to  secure  the  foreigner's 
assistance  in  some  quarrel  or  lawsuit.  As  a  rule,  there- 
fore, a  native  who  seeks  admission  to  the  Church  is 
not  immediately  received  into  full  membership.  He 
is  enrolled  as  an  inquirer  or  prospective  member,  kept 

'Reports  for  1914  for  the  main  divisions,  with  the  addition  of 
figures  for  1912  for  the  less  important  divisions. 


PRESENT  STRENGTH  AND  INFLUENCE          101 

under  instruction  and  observation  for  a  period  vary- 
ing from  six  months  to  a  year  or  more,  and  he  is  not 
reported  as  a  communicant  until  time  has  demonstrated 
the  genuineness  of  his  Christian  life.  And  yet  as 
distinct  a  confession  of  faith  is  required  for  enrolment 
as  a  beginning  member  as  churches  in  America  demand 
for  full  membership.  For  this  reason,  the  number  of 
Christians  in  a  mission  field  is  considerably  greater 
than  the  reported  list  of  communicants,  often  double 
that  list. 

Remarkable  Progress.  The  rate  of  progress  is 
remarkable.  The  natural  presumption  would  be  that 
Christianity  would  gain  very  slowly  in  lands  where 
it  is  regarded  with  suspicion  as  an  alien  faith,  opposed 
by  a  powerful  priesthood,  and  at  variance  with  long- 
established  customs  and  deeply  rooted  prejudices. 

It  would  not  be  reasonable,  therefore,  to  expect  as 
rapid  increase  as  in  America,  where  centuries  of  Chris- 
tian activity  have  created  conditions  more  favorable 
to  the  spread  of  Christianity,  where  a  confession  of 
faith  is  safe  and  easy  and  where  it  is  often  to  one's 
business  or  social  advantage  to  join  the  Church.  It 
took  three  hundred  years  for  Christianity  to  make  even 
a  nominal  conversion  of  our  Anglo-Saxon  ancestors. 
Protestant  foreign  missionary  work  is  but  a  little  over 
a  hundred  years  old.  In  a  large  part  of  the  non- 
Christian  world  it  is  not  half  a  century  old,  while  some 
important  fields  have  been  occupied  within  two  decades. 
What  justice  is  there  in  expecting  large  immediate 
results  in  such  circumstances? 


102  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

Home  and  Foreign  Increase.  But  what  are  the 
comparative  facts?  The  average  annual  increase  in 
the  Protestant  churches  in  America  is  two  per  cent., 
while  the  increase  on  the  foreign  field  is  seven  per  cent. 
One  large  board  reports  in  a  decade  a  net  gain  of 
eighty-two  per  cent,  in  the  number  of  churches  and  a 
hundred  and  sixty  per  cent,  in  the  number  of  communi- 
cants. Grant  that  mere  numbers  are  not  always  a  fair 
test  of  success,  and  that  in  some  important  mission 
fields  the  number  of  converts  is  yet  small.  Taking  the 
work  as  a  whole  we  have  reason  for  mighty  encourage- 
ment and  for  gratitude  to  God.  The  advance  in  some 
fields  has  been  wonderful.  It  is  a  story  of  toil  and  self- 
sacrifice,  of  magnificent  courage,  of  superb  loyalty  to 
the  truth  of  God.  Within  the  first  hundred  years  of 
modern  missions  the  number  of  Christians  in  the  mis- 
sion field  was  at  least  twice  as  large  as  the  number  of 
Christians  in  the  whole  world  at  the  end  of  the  first 
century  of  the  Christian  era. 

Consider  also  that  a  large  part  of  the  work  thus  far 
has  consisted  of  clearing  the  ground  and  laying  foun- 
dations. The  degree  of  achievement  must  be  estimated 
not  only  by  the  results  that  can  be  seen  but  by  the  pros- 
pect for  the  future.  The  pioneer  stage  is  usually  the 
slowest.  The  American  nation  looked  very  small  and 
poor  to  European  eyes  for  half  a  century  after  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  and  it  was  not  until  a 
century  had  passed  that  it  attained  a  magnitude  that 
challenged  the  respect  of  the  world.  Compare  the  prog- 
ress that  Christianity  has  made  in  non-Christian  lands 


PRESENT  STRENGTH  AND  INFLUENCE          103 

during  the  last  century  with  the  progress  that  was 
made  during  the  first  century  of  Christian  work 
in  England,  and  we  shall  find  no  reason  for 
discouragement,  but,  on  the  contrary,  abundant  rea- 
son for  thanksgiving.  Critics  assert  that  the  rate 
ought  to  be  greater  in  these  modern  times  when  the 
Christian  movement  on  the  foreign  field  is  the  projec- 
tion of  a  powerful  Church  at  the  home  base  which  is 
able  to  equip  it  as  the  early  Christians  were  not 
equipped.  Critics  find  it  hard  to  be  consistent,  for  they 
also  allege  with  mournful  joy  that  the  modem  Church 
is  inefficient  as  compared  with  the  apostolic  Church. 

Apostolic  and  Present-Day  Growth.  The  latter 
criticism  is  so  common  and  is  believed  to  be  true  by  so 
many  in  the  home  churches  that  it  may  be  well  to 
examine  it  more  closely.  We  are  told  of  "the  amazing 
vitality  of  the  early  Church  and  the  comparative  im- 
potence of  the  Church  of  our  day,"  and  we  are  urged 
to  consider  the  reasons  for  our  decadence.  No  real 
attempt  is  made  to  prove  the  hypothesis ;  it  is  taken  for 
granted  as  if  it  were  beyond  dispute,  and  an  elaborate 
edifice  of  pessimism  and  appeal  is  built  upon  it.  Some 
of  my  own  former  writings  include  sentences  which 
might  be  construed  in  the  same  way.  Further  reflec- 
tion has  led  me  to  doubt  the  validity  of  this  line  of 
argument. 

The  conversion  of  three  thousand  in  a  day,  recorded 
in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  is  still  unmatched  either 
at  home  or  abroad ;  but  where  else  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment were  there  mightier  manifestations  of  God's  sav- 


104  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

ing  power  than  in  Uganda  with  its  24,387  con- 
verts in  six  years  (1897-1902)?  In  Burma  the 
Karens  have  amazed  the  world  by  the  vigor  and  fruit- 
fulness  of  their  faith.  In  the  Telugu  Mission,  the 
Ongole  Church  with  its  branches  attained  a  member- 
ship of  32,000  communicants,  no  less  than  10,000  of 
whom  were  baptized  in  the  single  year  of  1878,  while 
at  Podili,  in  the  same  year,  six  native  ministers  bap- 
tized 2,222  in  one  day.  In  Aneitium  of  the  New 
Hebrides  John  Geddie's  memorial  tablet  reads: 
"When  he  landed  in  1848  there  were  no  Christians; 
when  he  left  in  1872  there  were  no  heathens."  More 
than  twenty  years  ago,  Arthur  T.  Piejson  wrote  a 
little  book  entitled  The  New  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  It 
is  packed  with  evidences  that  the  Holy  Spirit  has  been 
working  in  these  modern  times  in  ways  which  would 
have  gladdened  the  heart  of  Paul.  If  that  account  were 
brought  down  to  date,  it  would  include  many  other 
marvelous  manifestations  of  spiritual  power.  We 
shall  cite  some  recent  examples  in  a  later  part  of  this 
chapter.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  Eastern  Asia  is  as  hard 
a  mission  field  as  the  Roman  empire  ever  was;  but 
more  converts  have  been  made  there  in  the  last  sixty- 
five  years  than  were  made  in  the  Roman  empire  within 
sixty-five  years  after  the  death  of  Christ.  "Compar- 
ative impotence  of  the  Church  of  our  day,"  indeed ! 

Spirit  of  Modern  Leaders.  Surely  it  is  not  a  sign 
of  faith  to  argue  that  our  Lord  is  failing  to  accom- 
plish his  purpose.  He  came  to  establish  a  Kingdom, 
and  acceleration  of  development  is  therefore  a  normal 


PRESENT  STRENGTH  AND  INFLUENCE          105 

expectation.  Wonderful  is  the  account  of  Christian 
devotion  in  the  apostolic  age.  We  read  with  reverent 
joy  of  those  early  disciples  of  whom  men  "took  knowl- 
edge .  .  .  that  they  had  been  with  Jesus."  But 
what  shall  we  say  of  Count  Zinzendorf  who  said:  "I 
have  one  passion  and  that  is  Christ;"  of  Henry 
Martyn  who  joyously  exclaimed :  "I  am  born  for  God 
only,  I  do  not  wish  for  any  heaven  on  earth  besides 
that  of  preaching  the  precious  gospel  to  immortal 
souls;"  of  Gerald  Dale  who  so  visibly  walked  with  God 
during  his  brief  missionary  life  that  the  fanatical 
peoples  of  Syria  wept  when  he  died  and  still  venerate 
his  memory  as  a  saint ;  of  David  Livingstone  who 
wrote  in  his  diary  on  his  fifty-ninth  birthday :  "My 
Jesus,  my  King,  my  Life,  my  All,  I  again  dedicate  my 
whole  self  to  thee;  accept  me  and  grant,  O  gracious 
Father,  that  ere  this  year  is  gone  I  may  finish  my  task ;" 
of  Jonathan  Wilson  of  whom  a  German  scientist,  who 
had  been  traveling  in  northern  Siam,  said  to  a  com- 
pany of  clubmen  who  had  been  scoffing  at  missionaries : 
"I  do  not  profess  to  be  a  religious  man,  but  I  tell  you 
that  that  good  old  missionary,  with  whom  I  spent  sev- 
eral weeks  in  the  jungles  of  Laos,  is  more  like  Jesus 
Christ  than  any  other  man  I  ever  knew."  The  modern 
missionary  is  writing  the  name  of  Jesus  large  across 
the  sky  of  Asia.  He  is  making  Jesus'  standard  the 
inexorable  test  of  men  and  nations.  He  is  making  the 
d-ivine  voice  the  deep  undertone  of  human  life.  Un- 
doubtedly some  missionaries  are  inefficient  and  some 
erratic;  but  the  typical  missionary,  as  I  have  had  op- 


106  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

portunity  to  know  him  in  twenty  years  of  secretarial 
service  and  two  journeys  to  Asia,  is  an  apostle  through 
whom  the  Spirit  of  God  is  communicating  regenerat- 
ing power  to  the  non-Christian  world. 

Enlightenment  and  Philanthropy.  In  estimating 
the  present  strength  and  influence  of  the  Church  we 
must  take  into  consideration  not  merely  numbers  but 
evidences  of  other  kinds  that  cannot  be  easily  tabu- 
lated. Is  the  work  of  our  home  churches  to  be  judged 
solely  by  the  number  of  converts?  What  shall  we  say 
on  the  foreign  field  of  the  new  forces  that  have  been 
liberated,  of  the  purification  of  society,  the  healing  of 
the  sick,  the  education  of  the  young,  the  new  standards 
of  truth  and  of  duty?  The  enlightening  and  philan- 
thropic influence  of  Christian  missions  is  enormous. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  an  officer  of 
the  British  East  India  Company  exclaimed :  "The  send- 
ing of  missionaries  into  our  eastern  possessions  is  the 
maddest,  most  expensive,  most  unwarranted  project 
that  was  ever  proposed  by  a  lunatic  enthusiasm."  At 
the  end  of  the  century,  the  good  results  were  so  evident 
that  the  British  Lieutenant-governor  of  Bengal  said : 
"In  my  judgment  Christian  missionaries  have  done 
more  lasting  good  to  the  people  of  India  than  all  other 
agencies  combined." 

The  Japan  Daily  Mail  reported  Count  Okuma,  the 
greatest  statesman  of  Japan,  as  saying,  in  Tokyo,  at 
the  semi-centennial  of  Protestant  missions:  "The  suc- 
cess of  Christian  work  in  Japan  can  be  measured  by 
the  extent  to  which  it  has  been  able  to  infuse  the  Anglo- 


GROUP  OF  LEPERS 
GROUP  OF  INSANE 


PRESENT  STRENGTH  AND  INFLUENCE          107 

Saxon  and  the  Christian  spirit  into  the  nation.  It  has 
been  the  means  of  putting  into  these  fifty  years  an 
advance  equivalent  to  that  of  one  hundred  years. 
Japan  has  a  history  of  2,500  years,  but  only  by  the 
coming  of  the  West  in  its  missionary  representatives 
and  by  the  spread  of  the  gospel  did  the  nation  enter 
upon  world-wide  thoughts  and  world-wide  work.  This 
is  a  great  result  of  the  Christian  spirit." 

Hundreds  of  similar  tributes  and  innumerable  illus- 
trations might  be  cited.  Native  officials  are  as  out- 
spoken as  foreigners  in  recognizing  the  beneficent  work 
of  Christian  missions.  Several  Asiatic  governments 
have  followed  the  advice  of  missionaries  in  adopting 
vaccination  to  reduce  the  ravages  of  smallpox,  in  pro- 
viding for  the  care  of  lepers,  and  in  enforcing  regu- 
lations for  the  suppression  of  epidemics.  When  pneu- 
monic plague  broke  out  in  northern  China,  the  author- 
ities immediately  turned  to  the  medical  missionaries, 
asked  them  to  take  command  of  the  situation,  and 
placed  at  their  disposal  an  unlimited  supply  of  money 
and  helpers ;  the  result  being  that  the  disease  was  soon 
stamped  out. 

Pestilence  in  Manchuria.  Five  hundred  Chinese 
coolies,  who  had  been  working  in  the  bean  fields  of 
Manchuria,  started  back  to  their  homes  in  southern 
China  about  Christmas.  Pneumonic  plague  broke  out 
among  them,  and  they  were  stopped  near  Mukden  and 
huddled  into  five  small  buildings.  Dr.  A.  F.  Jackson, 
a  young  missionary  of  the  Scotch  Presbyterian  Mis- 
sion, volunteered  to  go  into  quarantine  with  the  terrified 


108  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

men.  He  was  the  only  white  man  in  that  foul  pest 
center.  Eighty  of  the  coolies  died,  and  then  their  phy- 
sician and  defender  himself  contracted  the  disease. 
When  he  discovered  that  the  infection  had  laid  hold 
of  him,  he  tried  to  hide  himself  in  order  that  no  other 
physician  might  run  the  risk  of  contracting  the  plague 
in  attending  him ;  but  his  plight  was  discovered  by  fel- 
low missionaries  who  hastened  to  him  in  spite  of  the 
danger,  and  did  all  in  their  power  to  save  his  life.  The 
pneumonic  form  of  this  terrific  scourge,  however,  is 
almost  invariably  fatal,  and  the  young  Scotchman's 
martyrdom  was  soon  complete.  His  Excellency,  the 
Viceroy  of  Manchuria,  Hsi  Liang,  with  his  staff,  at- 
tended a  memorial  service  in  Mukden,  and  he  made  the 
following  solemn  oration: 

"We  have  shown  ourselves  unworthy  of  the  trust 
laid  upon  us  by  our  Emperor;  we  have  allowed  a  dire 
pestilence  to  overrun  the  sacred  capital.  His  Majesty, 
the  king  of  Great  Britain,  shows  sympathy  with  every 
country  when  calamity  overtakes  it.  His  loyal  subject, 
Dr.  Jackson,  moved  by  his  sovereign's  spirit  and  with 
the  heart  of  Christ  who  died  to  save  the  world,  re- 
sponded nobly  when  we  besought  him  to  help  our 
country  in  its  time  of  need.  He  went  forth  to  help 
us  daily  where  the  pest  lay  the  thickest;  in  the  midst 
of  the  groans  of  the  dying,  he  struggled  to  cure  the 
stricken,  to  find  medicine  to  stay  the  dreadful  disease.. 
Worn  by  his  efforts,  the  pest  seized  upon  him  and  took 
him  from  us  long  before  his  time.  Our  sorrow  is  be- 
yond all  measure,  our  grief  too  deep  for  words.  Dr. 


PRESENT  STRENGTH  AND  INFLUENCE          109 

Jackson  was  a  young  man  of  high  education  and  great 
natural  ability.  He  came  to  Manchuria  with  the 
intention  of  spreading  medical  knowledge  and  thus 
conferring  untold  blessings  on  the  eastern  people.  In 
pursuit  of  his  ideal,  he  was  cut  down.  The  Presby- 
terian Mission  has  lost  a  recruit  of  great  promise,  the 
Chinese  government  a  man  who  gave  his  life  in  his 
desire  to  help  them.  O  spirit  of  Dr.  Jackson!  we 
pray  you  to  intercede  for  the  twenty  million  people  of 
Manchuria  and  ask  the  Lord  of  heaven  to  take  away 
this  pest  so  we  may  once  more  lay  our  heads  upon 
our  pillows  in*  peace!  In  life  you  were  brave;  now 
you  are  a  spirit.  Noble  spirit,  who  sacrificed  your 
life  for  us,  help  us  still  and  look  down  in  kindness 
upon  us  all!" 

Royal  Testimony.  Among  the  Siamese,  the  number 
of  conversions  has  been  comparatively  small,  but  the 
social  results  of  missionary  effort  have  been  unusually 
large.  Indeed  it  is  probaWe  that  Christianity  has  had 
deeper  effect  upon  the  general  policy  and  publk  senti- 
ment of  the  country  than  in  many  lands  where  church- 
members  are  more  numerous.  The  regent  remarked  in 
1871  to  the  Hon.  George  F.  Seward,  then  American 
consul-general  at  Shanghai,  that  "Siam  had  not  been 
disciplined  by  English  and  French  guns  as  China,  but 
that  the  country  had  been  opened  by  missionaries." 
The  reforms  inaugurated  by  the  late  king  were  directly 
traceable  to  the  influence  of  the  missionaries.  The 
ruler  of  a  country  in  which  Buddhism  is  the  state  reli- 
gion, he  did  not  hesitate  to  adopt  the  suggestions  which 


110  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

the  Christian  teachers  made.  He  showed  his  appre- 
ciation of  missionary  work  by  granting  full  religious 
toleration  and  by  assigning  valuable  property  to  mis- 
sion work  at  a  nominal  value  and  several  times  for 
nothing.  He  went  further  and  personally  made  gen- 
erous gifts  to  enlarge  the  mission  hospital  and  school 
at  Petchaburi,  the  mission  hospital  at  Nakawn,  and  he 
headed  a  list  of  donors  for  a  new  site  for  the  Bangkok 
Christian  College,  over  eighty  of  his  princes  and  nobles 
adding  their  names.  The  queen  gave  the  money  for  a 
women's  ward  for  the  Petchaburi  hospital,  and  for  the 
"queen's  scholarship  fund"  at  the  girls'  school  in  Bang- 
kok. The  present  king  is  continuing  the  liberal  policy 
of  his  illustrious  father,  and  shortly  before  his  acces- 
sion to  the  throne,  he  laid  the  corner-stone  of  the  mis- 
sion college  in  Chieng-mai. 

Students  of  this  phase  of  the  influence  of  Chris- 
tianity in  Asia  will  find  a  rich  store  of  material  in  the 
volumes  of  Drs.  Dennis,  Capen,  and  Faunce,  to  which 
reference  is  made  on  page  168. 

Specific  Fields 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  speak  more  particularly  of 
the  present  strength  and  influence  of  the  Church  in 
several  typical  mission  fields.  Our  space  limits  will 
not  permit  an  enumeration  of  all  of  them;  but  we  can 
mention  some  representative  ones. 

Korea.  Although  it  was  not  until  1886  that  the  first 
Korean  was  baptized,  Korea  now  has  a  Christian 
Church  whose  membership,  including  enrolled  provi- 


PRESENT  STRENGTH  AND  INFLUENCE          111 

sional  members,  approaches  a  quarter  of  a  million, 
exclusive  of  adherents  and  baptized  children.  Many 
stations  have  histories  which,  though  covering  but  a 
few  years,  are  crowded  with  inspiring  facts.  When 
I  visited  the  country  in  1901,  I  was  stirred  by  the 
wonder  of  the  movement.  Eight  years  later,  I  found 
no  sign  of  abatement  but  rather  signs  of  increasing 
power.  Revival  after  revival  has  swept  over  the  land. 
Recent  years  have  brought  heavy  strain  in  changing 
material  conditions,  but  the  churches  continue  to  grow. 
Who  can  read  unmoved  the  following  statements  of 
a  missionary  regarding  one  of  the  six  missions  in 
Korea:  thirty  years  ago  not  one  Christian;  now  over 
100,000  in  his  Church  alone?  The  average  net  in- 
crease for  thirteen  years  is  38  per  cent.  In  the  591 
primary  schools  10,916  boys  and  2,511  girls  are  study- 
ing. This  one  mission  has  added  an  average  of  6,980 
communicants  a  year  for  five  years. 

The  Rev.  D.  A.  Bunker,  of  another  mission,  says: 
"Work  along  all  lines  goes  forward  so  fast  that  we 
can  hardly  keep  within  sight  of  the  van.  At  every 
chapel,  candidates  for  baptism  are  awaiting  us:  611 
new  names  have  been  added  to  the  list  of  believers  in 
the  past  ten  days." 

Japan.  Japan,  which  received  its  first  Protestant 
missionary  in  1859,  now  has  857  organized  churches 
with  a  membership,  including  enrolled  beginners, 
of  102,790.  There  are  728  ordained  Japanese  min- 
isters, 713  unordained  Christian  workers,  and  over  a 
hundred  thousand  scholars  in  1,875  Sunday-schools. 


112  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

Five  thousand  students  are  attending  Christian  board- 
ing-schools, and  eight  thousand  children  are  attending 
one  hundred  kindergartens  and  other  day  schools. 
Four  hundred  candidates  for  the  ministry  are  being 
trained  in  theological  colleges,  and  three  hundred  and 
fifty  women  in  Bible  training-schools. 

The  influence  of  Christianity  extends  far  beyond  the 
reported  lists  of  communicants.  A  professor  of  the 
Imperial  University  in  Tokyo  declares  that  "at  least 
a  million  Japanese  outside  the  Christian  Church  have 
so  come  to  understand  Christianity  that,  though  as  yet 
unbaptized,  they  are  framing  their  lives  according  to 
the  teachings  of  Christ."  Another  Japanese  says  in  a 
published  article:  "Christianity  is  taking  hold  of  the 
Japanese  people  far  more  strongly  than  the  mission- 
aries imagine.  And  I  am  confident  that  Christianity  is 
now  slowly  but  steadily  taking  the  place  of  Confucian- 
ism as  the  family  religion  of  the  Japanese." 

The  Rev.  William  Imbrie  of  Tokyo  said  in  a  semi- 
centennial address:  "Fifty  years  ago  notice-boards 
were  standing  on  the  highways  declaring  Christianity 
a  forbidden  religion;  to-day  these  same  notice-boards 
are  standing  in  the  museum  in  Tokyo  as  things  of  his- 
torical interest.  Fifty  years  ago  religious  liberty  was 
a  phrase  not  yet  minted  in  Japan;  to-day  it  is  written 
in  the  Constitution  of  the  nation.  Even  forty  years 
ago  there  was  not  an  organized  church  in  all  Japan ;  to- 
day there  are  Synods  and  Conferences  and  Asso- 
ciations with  congregations  dotting  the  empire  from 
Hokkaido  to  Formosa,  and  men  of  high  position 


PRESENT  STRENGTH  AND  INFLUENCE          113 

in  the  nation  cordially  recognize  the  fact  that  Chris- 
tianity in  Japan  has  won  for  itself  a  place  worthy  of 
recognition." 

The  Bible  was  a  prohibited  book  in  Japan  for  some 
time  after  the  missionaries  arrived.  But  six  million 
copies  of  the  Bible  and  Bible  portions  have  been  cir- 
culated during  the  last  thirty  years.  The  demand  is 
still  so  great  that  9,121  Bibles,  101,589  Testaments, 
and  391,666  portions  were  sold  in  1913.  The  Word 
of  God  is  the  best-selling  book  in  Japan  to-day. 

We  would  not  make  too  much  of  these  facts.  Japan 
is  still  far  from  being  a  Christian  nation.  The  ob- 
stacles yet  to  be  surmounted  are  numerous  and  formi- 
dable. But  it  is  indisputable  that  Christian  ideas  are 
permeating  the  literature  and  the  thinking  of  Japan  to 
a  far  greater  extent  than  is  commonly  realized.  Who 
can  tell  how  much  of  the  development  of  modern 
Japan  was  influenced  by  missionaries?  The  prime 
minister,  Count  Okuma,  has  publicly  testified  that  he 
could  never  forget  the  influence  of  the  Rev.  Guido 
F.  Verbeck,  who  was  his  teacher  in  history,  English, 
and  the  Bible;  and  Count  Hayashi,  formerly  minister 
for  foreign  affairs,  was  equally  outspoken  in  acknowl- 
edging the  impulse  that  he  received  as  one  of  the  boys 
whom  Dr.  James  C.  Hepburn  taught  in  a  little  class 
half  a  century  ago.  The  Rev.  Daniel  Crosby  Greene 
wrote,  shortly  before  his  lamented  death,  that  "hardly 
ever  before  in  any  land,  has  Christianity  borne  riper 
or  more  varied  fruit  at  so  early  a  stage  in  its  history." 

China.     We  have  seen  in  a  former  chapter  how 


114  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

formidable  were  the  obstacles  which  Christianity  en- 
countered in  China.  In  1834,  twenty-seven  years  after 
Morrison's  arrival,  there  were  only  three  converts, 
and  in  1842  only  six.  In  1900,  there  were  113,000. 
To-day,  only  about  a  century  after  the  first  Chinese 
convert  was  baptized  by  a  Protestant  missionary, 
China  has  a  Church  of  370,114  communicants.  The 
Rev.  J.  Campbell  Gibson,  of  Swatow,  says  that  "the 
great  achievement  of  the  first  century  of  Protestant 
missions  in  China  has  been  the  planting  of  the  Chinese 
Church.  This  body  of  Christians,  with  its  equipment 
of  gathered  spiritual  experience;  of  Bible,  hymnology, 
and  Christian  literature;  its  places  of  worship;  its 
churches,  schools,  colleges,  hospitals,  and  printing- 
presses;  its  ordinances  of  worship;  its  discipline  of 
prayer;  and  its  habits  of  family  and  personal  religion; 
with  its  martyrology,  and  its  gathered  memories  of 
gracious  living  and  holy  dying — this  is  the  wonderful 
fruit  which  one  hundred  years  have  left  in  our  hands." 
The  change  in  the  attitude  of  the  Chinese  government 
and  people  toward  the  Christian  Church  is  highly 
significant.  Until  recent  years,  Christians  were  re- 
garded with  a  contempt  which  ranged  from  indiffer- 
ence to  a  hostility  which  found  expression  in  persecu- 
tion. Officials  and  gentry  either  ignored  them  or  made 
them  feel  the  heavy  hand  of  displeasure.  To-day, 
Christians  are  everywhere  regarded  with  respect. 
While  the  bulk  of  the  membership  of  the  Church  still 
comes  from  the  humbler  classes,  there  is  an  increasing 
number  of  educated  men.  The  Revolution  of  1911 


PRESENT  STRENGTH  AND  INFLUENCE          115 

marked  a  new  era  in  religion  as  well  as  in  politics. 
President  Yuan  Shih-kai  has  repeatedly  expressed  his 
sympathetic  interest  in  Christian  work,  and  thousands 
of  lesser  officials  have  taken  their  cue  from  him.  After 
his  accession  to  the  presidency,  a  deputation  of  five 
Chinese  pastors  begged  the  privilege  of  presenting  a 
memorial,  assuring  him  of  their  prayers  for  his  wel- 
fare and  of  their  hope  that  the  new  government  would 
proclaim  full  religious  toleration.  They  had  not 
ventured  to  believe  that  they  could  see  him,  but  had 
expected  that  their  memorial  would  have  to  be  sent 
through  official  channels.  But,  when  they  arrived  at 
the  palace,  they  were  ushered  into  the  presence  of 
Yuan  Shih-kai  himself.  He  received  them  kindly, 
served  tea,  listened  attentively  to  the  reading  of  their 
memorial  and  then  made  a  sympathetic  reply.  When 
they  took  leave,  he  sent  salutations  to  their  churches, 
and  ordered  his  guards  to  present  arms  and  the  mili- 
tary band  to  play.  So  these  ambassadors  of  Jesus 
Christ  left  with  distinguished  honors  the  palace  grounds 
whose  outermost  gate  they  would  not  have  been  per- 
mitted to  enter  a  year  before.  It  would  not  be  easy  to- 
overestimate  the  significance  of  the  change  which  this 
indicates  in  the  attitude  of  China  toward  the  Christian 
Church. 

India.  One  of  the  surprises  revealed  by  the  govern- 
ment census  of  India  was  the  number  of  persons  who 
reported  themselves  to  the  official  census-takers  as 
Christians.  The  London  Times  wonderingly  com- 
mented in  a  leading  editorial:  "There  are  3,574,000 


116  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

native  Christians  in  India,  apart  from  Eurasian  Chris- 
tians. The  Roman  Catholics  still  have  first  place,  with 
i  ,394,000  adherents ;  but  the  advance-  of  Roman  Ca- 
tholicism in  the  decade  is  surprisingly  small  compared 
with  Protestant  progress.  In  the  ten  years  the  Protes- 
tant Christians  have  increased  by  nearly  half  a  million, 
compared  with  the  272,000  increase  among  Catholics. 
The  Baptists  have  grown  in  numbers  from  217,000  to 
332,171  and  are  now  only  a  few  hundred  behind  the 
Anglicans,  who  take  first  place  with  332,807,  an  in- 
crease of  26,000  in  the  period.  Congregationalists 
have  made  very  marked  numerical  progress,  especially 
in  southern  India,  and  they  now  have  134,000,  an  in- 
crease of  97,000  in  ten  years.  The  Presbyterians  have 
added  121,000,  and  the  Methodists  94,000.  The  total 
Christian  population  of  India  is  now  nearly  four  mil- 
lions, or  about  one  in  every  eighty  of  the  315,000,000 
living  in  the  great  dependency."  The  census  further 
showed  that,  during  the  preceding  decade,  while  the 
population  of  the  country  had  increased  6.4  pe.r  cent., 
the  rate  of  increase  of  the  various  religions  was  as 
follows :  Hindus,  five  per  cent. ;  Mohammedans,  six 
per  cent. ;  Buddhists,  thirteen  per  cent. ;  Christians, 
thirty-three  per  cent.  In  the  Punjab,  the  Christian 
increase  was  446  per  cent. 

When  Bishop  Thoburn  organized  the  Methodist 
mission  in  1859,  there  were  one  native  member,  six 
probationers,  and  four  inquirers.  By  1886,  he  was 
able  to  say :  "We  are  now  face  to  face  with  the  most 
perplexing  responsibilities.  Twenty-five  thousand  per- 


PRESENT  STRENGTH  AND  INFLUENCE          117 

sons  are  to-day  standing  outside  our  doors,  willing 
and  waiting  to  receive  the  word  which  God  has  in- 
trusted to  us  for  them." 

One  looks  with  wonder  not  unmixed  with  awe  upon 
"the  mass  movement"  among  the  low-caste  people  of 
India.  These  depressed,  half-starved  classes,  despised 
by  the  higher  castes,  really  outcastes,  are  turning  to 
God  in  multitudes.  The  Methodist  Northwest  India 
Conference  has  baptized  115,000  in  twenty  years,  and 
is  adding  to  its  numbers  at  the  rate  of  ten  thousand  a 
year.  Other  communions  also  report  great  accessions. 
The  movement  is  spreading  so  rapidly  as  to  encourage 
the  hope  that  it  will  ultimately  reach  the  majority  of 
the  sixty  millions  of  low-caste  inhabitants  of  India.1 

Every  one  is  familiar  with  the  striking  words  of 
Lord  Lawrence :  "It  is  Christ  that  rules  British  India." 
Sir  Andrew  H.  L.  Fraser,  formerly  Lieutenant- 
governor  of  Bengal,  says:  "I  have  seen  the  Indian 
Church  grow  from  infancy,  when  it  seemed  impos- 
sible to  let  it  take  a  step  alone  and  without  guidance, 
into  a  comparatively  strong  church.  To  me  the  results 
of  Christian  missions  are  not  small  or  discouraging; 
they  are  important  and  of  the  highest  promise.  Such 
efforts  as  have  been  put  forth  by  the  churches  have 
been  crowned  with  wonderful  success.  No  one  who 
has  taken  any  trouble  to  study  the  question,  to  see  the 
the  work  itself,  to  judge  the  character  of  those  who 


'For  some  account  of  this  movement,  cf.  the  article,  "Christ- 
ward  Mass  Movements  in  India,"  by  Thomas  S.  Donohugh,  in 
the  Methodist  Review,  Nov.-Dec.,  1913. 


118  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

have  been  really  won  to  the  Christian  religion,  can 
fail  to  recognize  how  wonderful  the  results  have  been, 
both  in  regard  to  the  numbers  of  true  converts  and 
also  in  regard  to  the  elevation  of  their  character."1 

Africa.  Africa  presents  many  instances  of  the 
splendid  strength  and  influence  which  the  Church  is 
exerting  even  in  that  continent  so  darkened  by  ages 
of  ignorance  and  superstition.  20,782  persons  at- 
tended a  regular  communion  service  at  Elat  and  its 
neighboring  out-stations,  8,120  of  them  being  at  the 
central  church.  At  Fulasi,  seventy  miles  distant,  5,100 
were  present  at  a  similar  service.  It  is  inspiring  to 
think  of  such  great  congregations,  assembled  for  the 
most  part  in  the  open  air,  for  no  building  could  hold 
such  hosts,  lifting  their  voices  in  glad  songs  of  praise, 
and  then  reverently  partaking  together  of  the  symbols 
of  their  Lord's  death  upon  the  cross.  The  net  gain  in 
the  West  Africa  Mission  in  the  Kameruns  has  been 
a  thousand  per  cent,  in  the  last  three  years. 

The  story  of  Uganda  is  well  known.  Henry  M. 
Stanley  called  it  "an  epic  poem."  Some  one  else  has 
characterized  it  as  "a  pageant  of  salvation."  In  a 
country  where,  at  first,  persecution  was  ferocious  and 
every  condition  appeared  to  be  most  hopeless,  there  are 
great  churches  thronged  with  devout  worshipers, 
churches  which  are  self-governing,  self-supporting, 
and  self-propagating.  Remember  that  "in  this  con- 
tinent the  missionaries  are  not  working  with  civilized 
people,  like  those  of  India,  China,  and  Japan,  but  with 

1  Among  Indian  Rajahs  and  Ryots,  268-270. 


PRESENT  STRENGTH  AND  INFLUENCE          119 

the  rudest  barbarians.  They  are  dealing  with  the  raw 
material  of  the  human  race.  The  remarkable  thing  is 
that,  in  one  generation  or  less,  whole  tribes  can  be 
lifted  from  the  lowest  barbarism,  through  all  the  inter- 
vening stages  of  social  evolution,  and  placed  on  a 
fairly  high  plane  of  living.  Individual  transformations 
of  character  read  like  tales  from  our  New  Testament. 
The  missionaries  in  Africa  have  proved  that,  when 
once  the  spirit  of  man  is  freed  from  the  grip  of  sin, 
the  whole  nature  responds  and  awakens  to  new  life." 

Siam.  The  world  gives  little  heed  to  what  is  occur- 
ring in  the  far-off  valleys  of  northern  Siam.  But  God 
is  moving  with  great  power  among  their  Lao  inhabi- 
tants. The  work  is  comparatively  new,  but  the  move- 
ment is  becoming  notable.  In  a  remote  and  isolated 
region  and  with  a  small  missionary  force,  the  Church  is 
rapidly  advancing  in  numbers  and  influence.  The  First 
Church  of  Chieng-mai  has  baptized  1,387  adults  in 
three  years.  It  has  sent  out  several  colonies  to  form 
other  churches,  has  twelve  outlying  chapels  and  reports 
a  membership  of  2,083.  The  net  gain  in  the  mission 
was  thirty-seven  per  cent,  last  year,  the  number  of  com- 
municants having  increased  from  4,618  to  6,299. 

Egypt.  The  Protestant  Church  in  Egypt  grew  from 
seventy-seven  members  in  1864  to  twelve  thousand 
one  hundred  and  ninety-four  members  in  1914.  The 
average  yearly  increase  for  the  last  decade  was  6.6 
per  cent.  During  the  same  period  the  average  yearly 
increase  of  the  Church  in  America  which  maintains  the 
cooperating  mission  in  Egypt  was  2.2  per  cent. 


120  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

South  Sea  Islands.  One  cannot  think  unmoved  of 
the  manifestations  of  divine  power  in  the  islands  of  the 
Pacific  Ocean.  Hawaii,  New  Guinea,  the  Hervey 
Group,  the  New  Hebrides,  and  others  that  might  be 
mentioned,  have  missionary  histories  that  teem  with 
inspiring  facts.  The  novel  of  adventure  is  here  out- 
done by  the  actual  incidents  of  cannibal  feasts,  mid- 
night attacks,  and  hairbreadth  escapes.  The  autobiog- 
raphies of  such  missionaries  as  John  G.  Paton  and 
James  Chalmers  stir  one's  blood  like  the  sound  of  a 
trumpet.  To-day,  many  of  these  once  turbulent  tribes 
are  orderly  and  peaceful  communities.  The  traveler 
may  "behold  the  demoniac  sitting,  clothed  and  in  his 
right  mind,  even  him  that  had  the  legion ;"  but  he  need 
not  be  "afraid,"  x  for  these  men  worship  God  in  humil- 
ity and  love. 

The  Philippines.  The  missions  in  the  Philippines 
are  among  the  youngest  of  modern  missions.  The  first 
Protestant  missionary  did  not  arrive  till  1899.  Results 
began  to  appear  almost  immediately.  The  Filipinos, 
moved  by  the  preaching  of  a  pure  gospel  and  by  the 
reading  of  the  Bible,  which  the  Spanish  friars  had 
withheld  from  them,  turned  to  God  in  such  numbers 
that  within  half  a  decade  there  were  numerous 
churches.  To-day  the  number  of  adult  communicants 
is  around  the  fifty  thousand  mark  and  every  year  sees 
further  advance. 

Not  all  fields  have  been  as  fruitful  as  these  that  have 
been  mentioned,  but  the  average  rate  of  progress  has 

*Mark  v.  15. 


PRESENT  STRENGTH  AND  INFLUENCE          121 

been  remarkably  good  considering  all  the  circum- 
stances. Even  in  the  hardest  fields,  solid  foundations 
have  been  laid. 

Latin  America.  The  countries  that  are  commonly 
grouped  under  the  name  Latin  America  have  presented 
peculiar  difficulties.  South  America  has  been  well 
characterized  as  "the  continent  that  had  a  bad  start," 
"with  no  Mayflower  and  no  Plymouth  Rock,"  but 
with  brutal,  lustful,  avaricious  Spanish  adventurers. 
Ecuador  and  Peru  are  still  bitterly  intolerant  of  Prot- 
estant effort.  In  Mexico,  Central  America,  Colombia, 
and  Venezuela,  mission  work  is  frequently  ham- 
pered by  the  unsettled  conditions  of  revolutionary  tur- 
bulence and  by  all  the  obstacles  that  a  corrupt  and 
fanatical  hierarchy  can  devise.  But  Bolivia  has  reli- 
gious liberty,  Chile  and  the  Argentine  are  progressive 
republics,  and  Brazil  is  slowly  but  noticeably  moving 
along  the  same  path.  In  most  of  these  countries  well- 
established  churches  may  be  found.  They  are  not  yet 
numerous.  The  total  number  of  Protestant  communi- 
cants in  all  Latin  America  is  only  about  100,000.  But 
they  are  making  their  influence  felt.  Here  and  there 
one  finds  a  large  and  flourishing  congregation.  A 
church  in  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Brazil,  has  received  1,752 
members  since  its  organization  in  1862.  It  added  120 
last  year,  of  whom  108  were  on  confession  of  faith. 
It  is  enlarging  its  building  of  a  thousand  sittings  to 
provide  needed  accommodation  for  its  growing  con- 
gregations. It  has  six  Sunday-schools  and  seven  affili- 
ated congregations,  has  sent  twelve  of  its  members 


122  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

into  the  ministry  and  has  three  more  studying,  and 
has  a  Christian  Endeavor  Society  whose  members  dis- 
tribute tracts  in  the  city  and  invite  people  to  the  serv- 
ices. 

Moslem  Lands.  Moslem  lands  have  been  deemed 
the  stoniest  ground  for  Christian  seed.  We  have 
already  referred  to  the  fact  that  for  a  long  time  preach- 
ing to  Mohammedans  was  forbidden,  that  their  chil- 
dren were  not  permitted  to  attend  mission  schools,  and 
that  a  convert  was  in  imminent  danger  of  assassina- 
tion. To-day,  hundreds  of  Moslem  pupils  are  attending 
mission  schools,  converts  are  becoming  more  frequent, 
and  the  walls  of  prejudice  are  crumbling  in  many 
hitherto  inaccessible  places.  The  Rev.  Henry  H. 
Jessup  of  Beirut,  after  half  a  century  of  missionary 
labor,  wrote:  "We  find  public  sentiment  throughout 
the  land  revolutionized  on  the  subject  of  education  for 
both  sexes ;  a  vast  number  of  readers  raised  up  among 
all  the  sects  and  nationalities ;  the  power  of  the  hierar- 
chy greatly  weakened ;  the  Bible  in  thousands  of  homes ; 
the  Syrian  Protestant  College  in  Beirut  wielding  an 
immense  influence  all  over  western  Asia  and  north- 
eastern Africa;  an  increasing  demand  for  the  Arabic 
Scriptures;  the  Syria  evangelical  churches  beginning 
to  realize  their  responsibility;  and,  in  fine,  a  material, 
intellectual,  and  moral  awakening  which  is  the  prepara- 
tion for  a  new  Syria  in  the  new  century  at  hand." 
Substantially  similar  statements  might  be  made  re- 
garding the  churches  in  other  parts  of  the  Turkish 
empire  and  in  Egypt  and  Persia. 


PRESENT  STRENGTH  AND  INFLUENCE          123 

General  Progress.  This  is  an  incomplete  record  of 
the  present  strength  and  influence  of  the  churches  in 
non-Christian  lands.  Other  interesting  fields  might  be 
described  if  space  permitted.  But  perhaps  those  that 
have  been  mentioned  may  serve  as  illustrations. of  the 
progress  that  is  being  made  throughout  the  whole  widely 
extended  range  of  Christian  operations  affecting  the 
unevangelized  world. 

Statistics  have  been  numerous  in  this  chapter.  They 
will  soon  be  out  of  date  and  we  are  glad  that  they  will 
be,  for  the  changes  of  each  year  mean  that 

"Our  God  is  marching  on." 

Their  repetition,  however,  even  if  only  approximately 
correct  at  a  given  time,  affords  one  a  more  definite  im- 
pression of  the  magnitude  and  variety  of  the  work 
that  is  being  done.  "Missionary  statistics,"  as  another 
has  well  said,  "gathering  up  so  many  years  in  a  few 
pages,  are  to  many  people  like  the  valley  of  dry  bones 
to  the  desponding  prophet.  But,  to  him  who  knows 
their  meaning  and  walks  among  them,  they  rise  and 
stand  upon  their  feet,  clothed  with  the  flesh  and  blood 
of  those  whose  life-work  they  represent — their  hopes, 
their  fears,  their  doubts,  their  struggles,  their  tears, 
their  death." 

The  Unfinished  Task 

Only  a  Beginning.  We  would  not  give  the  impres- 
sion that  the  non-Christian  world  is  about  to  become 
Christian.  Vast  regions  are  still  untouched,  and  large 
sections  of  the  population  of  occupied  lands  have  not 


124  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

yet  heard  of  Christ  in  a  way  that  would  enable  them 
to  make  an  intelligent  choice.  A  total  of  102,790 
Christians  in  Japan?  But  there  are  53,000,000  people 
in  Japan.  As  many  as  370,114  adult  communicants  in 
China?  How  small  the  number  in  comparison  with  a 
total  population  of  438,000,000!  Nearly  four  million 
East  Indians  who  tell  the  census-takers  that  they  are 
Christians?  We  thank  God  and  take  courage.  But 
shall  we  be  content  with  one  eightieth  of  India's  pop- 
ulation of  315,000,000?  And  so  we  might  go  through 
field  after  field.  Even  where  the  most  notable  results 
have  been  achieved,  hardly  more  than  a  beginning  has 
been  made.  The  non-Christian  world  is  not  a  light 
place  with  dark  spots,  but  a  dark  place  in  which  only 
here  and  there  the  light  is  shining.  The  new  world 
conditions,  too,  while  enormously  widening  our  oppor- 
tunity, are  creating  some  new  obstacles,  intensifying 
some  old  ones,  and  demanding  greatly  increased  effort 
on  the  part  of  the  churches  at  home.  A  stupendous 
task  still  confronts  us,  a  task  summoning  us  to  the 
most  heroic  endeavor,  the  most  unselfish  consecra- 
tion, and  the  most  splendid  faith. 

Praise,  Prayer,  Promise.  Meantime,  as  we  view  the 
progress  that  has  been  made  against  tremendous 
obstacles,  and  then  consider  how  much  remains  to  be 
done,  our  thought  may  well  be  that  of  the  one  hundred 
and  twenty-sixth  Psalm :  thanksgiving  for  the  measure 
of  blessing  that  has  already  been  given — "Jehovah  has 
done  great  things  for  us,  whereof  we  are  glad;"  but 
humble,  earnest  prayer  that  far  richer  grace  may 


PRESENT  STRENGTH  AND  INFLUENCE    125 

come — "Turn  again  our  captivity,  O  Jehovah,  as  the 
streams  in  the  South."  Surely  God  will  fulfil  his 
promise  that  "they  that  sow  in  tears  shall  reap  in  joy" ; 
and  that  "he  that  goeth  forth  and  weepeth,  bearing  pre- 
cious seed,  shall  doubtless  come  again  with  joy,  bring- 
ing his  sheaves  with  him." 


VI 

SELF-SUPPORT    AND    SELF-PROPAGATION 

A  young  church,  like  a  young  man,  must  develop 
certain  qualities  if  it  is  to  perform  its  proper  task  in 
the  world.  Those  which  relate  to  spiritual  life  are 
discussed  in  another  chapter.  We  discuss  here  some 
other  duties  that  are  prominent  in  the  missionary  aim 
and  methods. 

Sclf-Support 

One  of  the  Fundamentals.  Self-support  is  one  of 
these  characteristics.  We  emphasize  this,  not  only 
because  it  is  fundamental  to  a  living  church,  but  be- 
cause some  givers  at  home  need  to  be  assured  that  the 
mission  boards  are  not  asking  them  for  unnecessary 
money,  and  because  other  givers  frequently  injure  the 
work  by  well-meant  but  unwise  designation  of  special 
objects  which  the  boards  do  not  approve. 

Attendant  Dangers.  The  obstacles  on  the  field  are 
formidable.  Even  in  America  multitudes  will  gladly 
accept  whatever  is  given  them.  Every  charitable,  edu- 
cational, and  missionary  agency  is  compelled  to  exer- 
cise care  lest  its  aid  shall  diminish  the  self-reliance  of 
the  aided  and  thus  increase  the  dependence  that  it  de- 
sires to  diminish.  This  difficulty  is  greatly  intensified 
in  foreign  missionary  work.  The  missionary  represents 
a  more  expensive  type  of  civilization  than  that  in  a 

127 


128  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

non-Christian  land.  His  scale  of  living,  while  mod- 
erate from  our  view-point,  appears  large  to  Asiatics 
and  Africans.  Centuries  of  abject  poverty  and  despotic 
government  have  predisposed  most  Orientals  to  accept 
with  eagerness  whatever  is  given  them.  Accustomed 
to  living,  or  rather  half-starving,  on  an  income  of  from 
ten  to  a  hundred  dollars  a  year,  the  native  regards  the 
missionary  who  has  a  salary  of -$1,200,  and  the  control 
of  thousands  more  for  schools,  hospitals,  and  other 
forms  of  work,  as  a  very  wealthy  man.  He  is  there- 
fore tempted  to  go  to  him  for  the  "loaves  and  fishes." 
This  temptation  is  strengthened  if  he  gets  the  impres- 
sion that  the  missionary  may  employ  him,  or  that  some 
"rich"  man  or  woman  in  America  may  support  him; 
for  he  imagines  that  all  white  people  have  money  in 
abundance.  Even  when  the  native  minister  or  teacher  is 
a  highly  trained  man,  it  is  neither  practicable  nor  wise 
to  pay  him  the  salary  that  is  paid  to  a  missionary.  The 
American  or  European,  who  is  tiie  product  of  western 
civilization,  who  requires  many  things  that  the  native 
has  not  learned  to  require,  who  is  a  foreigner  on*  the 
mission  field,  and  who  cannot  live  upon  the  food  or 
wear  the  clothing  or  occupy  the  house  of  an  Asiatic  or 
African,  must  be  supported  on  a  different  financial 
scale  from  that  of  a  native  of  the  country.  But  the 
reasons  for  this  distinction,  so  evident  to  us,  are  sel- 
dom evident  to  the  native  minister. 

The  missionary,  in  turn,  is  tempted  to  use  money 
freely  because  of  the  wretchedness  of  the  people  and 
because  of  the  prospect  of  the  visible  results  which  may 


SELF-SUPPORT  AND  SELF-PROPAGATION       129 

be  secured  by  a  liberal  financial  policy.  Would-be  con- 
verts flock  to  him  in  such  circumstances.  Many  helpers 
can  be  hired  to  apparent  advantage,  and  buildings  can 
be  cheaply  rented  and  furnished.  But  experience  has 
shown  that  a  church  that  is  wholly  supported  by  foreign 
money  is  built  on  quicksand.  Its  members  have  a  de- 
pendent spirit,  resent  pressure  toward  self-support  as 
an  infringement  upon  their  rights,  and  fail  to  realize 
their  obligation  to  live  the  Christian  life  without 
being  paid  for  it  by  the  foreigner.  In  some  fields, 
like  Japan,  the  independent  spirit  of  the  people  has 
obviated  this  danger;  and  in  others,  like  Uganda 
and  the  Kameruns,  the  policy  of  self-support  has  been 
so  persistently  pressed  from  the  beginning  that  the 
Christians  have  never  had  an  opportunity  to  form  the 
habit  of  financial  dependence.  But  as  a  rule  the  danger 
is  a  real  one. 

A  Missionary  Objective.  Missionaries,  as  a  rule, 
are  increasingly  firm  on  this  subject.  Our  duty  is 
to  start  Christianity  in  Asia,  not  to  maintain  it  indef- 
initely ;  to  teach  the  gospel,  to  found  its  institutions,  to 
aid  them  so  far  as  necessary  to  their  infancy,  but  to 
insist  that  as  soon  as  practicable  the  churches  shall  stand 
upon  their  own  foundations.  We  must  be  patient  and 
reasonable,  for  now,  as  of  old,  it  is  the  common  people 
who  hear  Christ  gladly,  and  in  the  mission  field  the 
common  people  are  pitifully  poor.  But  the  spirit  of 
self-help  is  as  vital  to  character  abroad  as  it  is  at  home, 
and  we  must  not  pauperize  the  Christians  of  Asia  by 
an  indiscriminate  and  unnecessary  charity.  They  paid 


130  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

heavily  for  the  support  of  their  old  religions,  and  there 
is  no  reason  why  they  should  not  in  time  support  their 
new  faith. 

Undoubtedly  some  native  workers  should  be  em- 
ployed by  the  missions,  especially  for  evangelistic  work 
in  communities  where  there  are  no  Christians  to  sup- 
port them  and  for  educational  work  in  schools  where 
salaries  must  be  paid  to  teachers.  An  infant  church 
must  be  helped.  But  the  number  of  natives  salaried  by 
foreign  money  should  be  limited  to  real  needs,  and  the 
salary  should  be  only  that  which  will  enable  them  to 
live  near  the  plane  of  their  countrymen,  while  they 
should  be  made  to  understand  clearly  that  this  pecuni- 
ary arrangement  is  temporary.  As  far  as  possible  na- 
tive workers  should  be  maintained  by  their  fellow 
Christians,  or  they  should  do  Christian  work  in  con- 
nection with  their  own  occupations,  as  St.  Paul  did 
and  as  thousands  of  consecrated  men  and  women  in 
America  are  doing. 

It  is  highly  unwise  to  turn  the  expectation  of  native 
Christians  toward  the  churches  of  Europe  and  Ameri- 
ca instead  of  toward  themselves.  If  there  are  a  thou- 
sand Christians  and  a  million  non-Christians  in  a  given 
district,  it  is  easier  to  appeal  to  a  board  in  Toronto, 
Boston,  or  New  York  for  reenforcements  and  enlarged 
appropriations  than  it  is  for  the  individual  believer  to 
do  as  the  Christians  of  the  first  century  did,  and  as 
socialists  and  woman  suffragists  are  doing  now,  that 
is,  accept  the  privilege  and  responsibility  of  com- 
municating one's  message  to  others  without  thought  of 


SELF-SUPPORT  AND  SELF-PROPAGATION       131 

pay.  Why  should  a  follower  of  Christ,  anywhere  in 
the  world,  whether  in  Chicago  or  Peking,  assume  that 
he  is  under  no  obligation  to  witness  for  Christ  unless 
somebody  hires  him  to  do  so? 

Principle  Involved.  We  must  insist,  in  season  and 
out  of  season,  line  upon  line  and  precept  upon  precept, 
and  even  at  the  risk  of  appearing  ungenerous,  that  while 
the  missionary,  being  a  foreigner,  will  be  maintained 
by  the  people  of  America,  the  native  workers  must  not 
look  to  Americans  but  to  their  own  people  for  their 
permanent  support.  It  will  take  a  long  time  to  reach 
it,  but  the  ideal  should  be  foreign  money  for  foreign 
missionaries  and  native  money  for  native  workers.  The 
Church  will  not  be  self-supporting  in  any  proper  sense 
if  its  work  must  be  done  by  foreign  missionaries  in- 
stead of  by  a  native  ministry  supported  by  the  people. 
One  vigorous,  self-reliant  congregation  is  worth  more 
to  the  cause  of  Christ  than  a  score  that  are  dependent 
upon  foreign  money.  We  like  to  say  that  Christianity 
is  adapted  to  every  people.  Then  it  ought  to  be  able  to 
live  among  them,  particularly  in  the  Orient  where  it 
started.  There  must  of  course  be  due  regard  to  local 
conditions.  But  no  land  will  ever  be  evangelized  until 
it  has  a  self-supporting  native  Church.  American 
money,  prudently  used  as  the  mission  boards  are  care- 
ful to  use  it,  is  needed  in  large  amounts.  But  while  it  is 
indispensable  as  a  help  to  self-support,  it  would  be 
ruinous  if  made  a  substitute  for  it. 

Answers  Questions.  The  principle  of  self-support 
affords  an  answer  to  some  questions  that  frequently 


132  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

come  before  Christians  at  home.  For  instance:  Shall 
we  erect  expensive  churches  in  the  mission  field? 
Plausible  appeals  are  frequent;  but  it  has  been  found 
that  a  church  built  by  foreigners  is  regarded  by  native 
Christians  as  the  foreigner's  church  and  that  they  do 
not  feel  the  same  interest  in  it  that  they  feel  toward  a 
humble  structure  which  they  themselves  have  paid  for. 
When  a  well-meaning  but  misguided  friend  in  New 
England  sent  a  stove  to  heat  a  church  in  a  mission  sta- 
tion of  the  American  Board  in  Asiatic  Turkey,  the 
native  officers  of  the  church  sent  the  missionaries,  a  bill 
for  their  time  and  labor  in  setting  it  up.  The  Presby- 
terian Board  once  received  a  request  for  an  appropria- 
tion to  pay  for  shoveling  snow  from  the  roof  of  a 
church  in  Persia.  The  board's  reply  should  have  been 
warm  enough  to  melt  the  snow.  The  trouble  was  that 
the  church  was  supposed  to  belong  to  the  missionary 
and  not  to  the  people.  Why  should  they  work  for  him 
for  nothing? 

Christians  of  the  apostolic  age,  when  driven  by  per- 
secution from  synagogues  and  the  temple,  erected  the 
humble  edifices  which  were  all  that  their  weakness 
and  poverty  could  afford.  It  does  not  follow  that  the 
numerous  and  wealthy  Christians  of  the  twentieth 
century  should  worship  in  a  shed  or  under  a  tree  be- 
cause the  Christians  of  the  first  century  did  so.  Chris- 
tianity to-day  requires  for  effective  work  many  things 
that  the  primitive  church  did  not  have  time  or  re- 
sources to  secure.  The  house  of  God  should  not  be 
cheaper  or  plainer  than  the  house  in  which  the  indi- 


SELF-SUPPORT  AND  SELF-PROPAGATION       133 

vidual  Christian  lives  and  the  building  in  which  he 
transacts  his  business.  Dignity  and  taste  find  proper 
expression  in  architecture  as  in  dress. 

Qn  the  other  hand,  moderation  should  characterize 
the  Christian  attitude  in  the  mission  field.  If  the 
church  edifice  should  not  be  a  hovel,  neither  should  it 
be  an  opera-house.  If  it  should  not  be  beggarly,  nei- 
ther should  it  be  so  costly  as  to  beggar  those  who 
attend  it.  This  is  particularly  important  where  we  are 
trying  to  establish  the  Church  among  people  whose 
poverty  is  so  dire  as  to  be  almost  incredible  to  one 
accustomed  to  American  standards.  Native  preachers 
must  do  the  future  work,  and  they  must,  as  in  other 
lands,  live  on  salaries  which  their  congregations  can 
pay,  and  preach  in  churches  which  their  people  can 
build.  Otherwise  we  shall  not  establish  a  living  Chris- 
tianity. Let  them  build  as  expensively  as  they  like  with 
their  own  money,  and  let  us  encourage  them  to  make 
the  house  of  God  a  worthy  one.  But  the  best  missionary 
practise  to-day  is  very  conservative  in  building  churches 
on  the  mission  field  except  where  a  larger  building  is 
required  for  general  station  work,  union  meetings,  an- 
nual conferences,  or  bodies  of  students,  than  a  local 
congregation  could  be  reasonably  expected  to  provide. 
In  other  places  foreign  assistance  seldom  should  exceed 
one  half  or  one  third  of  the  cost.  Places  of  worship  in 
out-stations  should  be  wholly  provided  by  the  native 
Christians,  save  in  very  exceptional  cases.  Chapels  for 
evangelistic  work  in  communities  where  there  are  no 
local  Christians  must  sometimes  be  provided  from 


134  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

foreign  funds,  and,  in  the  case  of  street  chapels  in 
metropolitan  cities,  these  may  require  considerable 
sums,  as  a  site  is  expensive  in  such  cities  and  the 
building  may  have  to  be  large  and  equipped  with  facili- 
ties for  institutional  work.  To  guard  against  unwise 
expenditure,  the  judgment  of  the  mission  board  con- 
cerned should  be  sought  and  money  should  be  given 
only  through  it  and  for  an  object  and  to  an  amount 
that  it  approves. 

Corrects  a  Wrong  Drift.  The  principle  of  self- 
support  also  bears  upon  the  question  of  assigning  the 
salaries  of  particular  native  workers  to  givers  in 
America.  This  plan  has  been  tried  with  disastrous 
consequences.  Experience  has  proved  that  it  is  ad- 
ministratively impracticable  and  expensive  on  account 
of  the  thousands  of  special  accounts  and  the  greatly 
increased  correspondence  that  it  involves.  The  average 
mission  board  has  several  thousands  of  these  workers. 
They  are  employed  by  the  missionaries  on  the  field  for 
varying  periods  and  at  various  salaries.  They  are 
frequently  changed.  The  missionary  may  pay  one  at 
a  given  rate  for  a  few  months,  and  then  reduce  his 
salary  as  the  native  Christians  can  be  induced  to  in- 
crease their  share  of  his  support.  If  the  natives  know 
that  a  definite  sum  has  been  sent  from  America,  the 
missionary  cannot  easily  persuade  them  to  assume 
larger  financial  responsibility,  and  the  native  worker 
himself  will  be  apt  to  resent  the  missionary's  effort,  if 
indeed  he  does  not  suspect  him  of  keeping  the  money 
for  himself.  "It  was  given  for  me  and  I  have  a  right 


SELF-SUPPORT  AND  SELF-PROPAGATION       135 

to  the  whole  of  it,"  he  reasons.  The  method  is  utterly 
impracticable.  It  undermines  the  self-reliance  of  the 
native  worker,  deprives  him  of  incentive  to  develop  the 
giving  of  his  people,  renders  him  independent  of  them, 
leads  them  to  regard  him  as  a  foreign  hireling  who  is 
financially  profiting  by  a  Christian, profession,  lessens 
their  sense  of  duty  to  contribute  to  his  support,  and 
seriously  hampers  the  efforts  of  the  missionaries  to 
promote  self-support.  The  difficulty  is  intensified  when 
a  photograph  is  asked  where  no  photographer  is  within 
reach  and  no  money  to  pay  him  if  there  is  one,  and 
when  letters  are  requested  from  a  native  who  perhaps 
never  wrote  a  letter  in  his  life,  who  knows  no  English, 
and  whose  laborious  efforts  to  address  a  distant  "great 
man"  must  be  revised  and  re-revised  and  then  trans- 
lated and  mailed  by  an  overworked  missionary  who 
can  hardly  find  time  to  write  to  his  own  relatives. 
Money  for  native  workers  invariably  should  be  given 
through  a  mission  board  in  such  a  way  that  the  board 
can  send  it  in  a  lump  sum  to  a  mission,  that  is,  the 
organized  body  of  missionaries  in  the  field  concerned, 
and  that  body  should  have  liberty  to  use  it  at  discre- 
tion for  the  best  interests  of  the  cause,  unembarrassed 
by  any  designation  from  America. 

Applied  to  Students  from  Mission  Lands.  Still 
another  application  of  the  principle  of  self-support 
relates  to  the  frequent  appeals  in  behalf  of  students 
from  non-Christian  lands  who  are  flocking  to  America 
in  increasing  numbers.  We  do  not  refer  to  those  who 
have  been  graduated  from  the  mission  or  government 


136  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

schools  in  their  native  land  and  who  have  come  here 
on  the  recommendation  of  their  former  teachers  to 
take  further  studies  with  the  expectation  of  supporting 
themselves  afterwards.  When  young  men  come  in  these 
circumstances,  with  a  knowledge  of  the  English  lan- 
guage which  enables  them  to  pursue  their  studies  to 
advantage,  and  with  some  means  of  their  own  to  help 
pay  their  way  at  least  for  the  first  year,  they  should 
be  encouraged.  But  if  financial  assistance  is  needed,  it 
should  be  given  as  tuition  or  scholarships  are  given  to 
students  in  our  home  colleges,  and  not  from  mission- 
ary funds ;  nor  should  any  one  imagine  that  he  is  doing 
the  missionary  cause  a  service  by  giving  money  to  aid 
an  Oriental  to  "return  and  preach  the  gospel  to  his 
own  people." 

The  experience  of  boards  and  missionaries  is  em- 
phatic, that,  with  rare  exceptions,  chiefly  among  Chi- 
nese and  Japanese,  natives  of  non-Christian  lands  who 
have  been  trained  in  Europe  or  America  are  not  so 
useful  on  the  foreign  field  as  many  in  the  home  land 
imagine.  The  difficulties  involved  are  often  inde- 
pendent of  the  question  of  personal  character.  Native 
Christians  can  be  most  economically  and  effectively 
trained  in  their  own  country,  in  the  educational  insti- 
tutions which,  in  almost  every  mission  field,  have  been 
founded  at  considerable  expense  for  this  purpose.  A 
sojourn  in  America  usually  develops  tastes  which  ren- 
der an  Asiatic  discontented  with  the  financial  support 
which  the  native  church  or  the  mission  can  give  him, 
separates  him  socially  from  his  own  people,  and  some- 


SELF-SUPPORT  AND  SELF-PROPAGATION        137 

times  makes  him  so  overbearing  in  manner  that  he  is 
heartily  disliked  by  other  native  workers.  He  thus  be- 
comes a  source  of  trouble  rather  than  of  help.  The 
policy  of  encouraging  large  numbers  of  these  young 
people  to  come  to  America  in  the  earlier  stages  of  their 
course,  without  a  knowledge  of  English  or.  any  means 
of  support,  thwarts  wise  plans  for  education  on  the 
mission  field,  creates  irritation  among  the  whole  force 
of  native  workers,  stimulates  a  worldly  ambition,  cuts 
off  patriotism  and  race  sympathy,  and  really  cripples 
the  influence  which  it  is  supposed  to  increase.  Not  in- 
frequently it  leads  to  imposition  upon  the  home 
churches  and  to  diversion  of  funds  to  personal  uses 
which  are  supposed  to  go  for  missionary  objects. 

The  Testing  Times.  The  vital  importance  of  self- 
support  has  been  thrown  into  startling  prominence  by 
the  plight  of  the  Continental  missions  during  the  Euro- 
pean war.  These  missions  were  no  more  dependent  in 
this  respect  than  American  and  British  missions  are. 
But  when  that  war  cut  off  supplies  from  home,  a  large 
part  of  the  work  stopped.  It  was  an  exotic  whose  roots 
had  not  yet  struck  deep  enough  into  the  soil  to  give 
holding  power.  This  fact  is  not  in  itself  a  criticism. 
Christianity  was  necessarily  projected  from  Europe 
and  America.  Manifestly  it  could  not  be  started  in  a 
non-Christian  land  in  any  other  way.  Our  Lord  told 
his  disciples  to  go  forth.  Christianity  had  to  be 
brought  to  peoples  who  did  not  have  it.  We  must 
remember,  too,  that  during  the  period  of  founding, 
mission  work  must  be  largely  sustained  by  those  who 


138  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

found  it.  Time  is  required  for  this,  long  time  perhaps, 
in  some  fields  at  least.  Now  if  the  foreign  planters  are 
suddenly  and  unexpectedly  deprived  of  support  before 
they  have  completed  their  work,  injury  necessarily  fol- 
lows. A  new  orchard  cannot  be  expected  to  with- 
stand a  cyclone  before  the  workmen  have  finished 
shoveling  the  earth  around  the  roots  and  tamping  it 
down.  The  demoralization  of  the  Continental  mis- 
sions on  account  of  the  European  war  was  there- 
fore inevitable  and  not  indicative  of  defective  methods. 

It  should  serve,  however,  as  an  additional  warning 
of  the  imperative  necessity  of  making  mission  work 
self-supporting  at  the  earliest  possible  period.  Mis- 
sionaries themselves  must  continue  to  depend  upon 
their  home  boards.  Disaster  at  home  will  always  cause 
them  hardship,  for  they  should  not  be  and  cannot  be 
locally  supported.  If  their  foreign  support  fails,  they 
must  be  brought  home  or  temporarily  helped  by  relief 
funds,  as  the  Continental  missionaries  were  during 
the  European  war.  The  mission  work,  however — the 
schools  and  hospitals  and  native  evangelists,  the  teach- 
ers and  nurses  who  are  salaried  by  the  mission,  all  the 
great  institutional  work — cannot  be  built  safely  on 
a  foundation  of  foreign  money  which  any  catastrophe 
might  destroy. 

The  lesson  is  clear.  We  must  be  careful  to  get  the 
work  rooted  in  native  soil  as  soon  as  possible  so  that 
it  will  be  able  to  stand  without  foreign  props.  We 
must  insist  that  the  native  Christians  shall  support  it 
as  far  as  practicable  and  as  soon  as  practicable.  We 


SELF-SUPPORT  AND  SELF-PROPAGATION       139 

must  not  use  our  money  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  mis- 
sion work  top-heavy.  The  wise  expenditure  of  for- 
eign funds  among  non-Christian  peoples  is  one  of  the 
most  difficult  and  delicate  of  administrative  tasks,  and 
the  local  church  or  individual  donor  in  America  who 
gives  to  special  objects  without  consultation  with  the 
board  concerned  may  not  only  embarrass  the  board  but 
do  harm  rather  than  good. 

Reasonable  Assistance.  On  the  other  hand,  Chris- 
tians at  home  should  remember  that  the  Church  in 
non-Christian  lands  is  yet  in  its  infancy,  that  they 
themselves  needed  help  at  the  corresponding  period 
of  their  development,  and  that  each  of  the  home 
churches  maintains  several  boards  to  give  aid  to  the 
home  mission  churches  and  institutions  of  our  own 
country.  The  churches  on  the  foreign  field  have  not 
yet  reached  the  stage  of  the  churches  of  the  West, 
where  there  are  numerous  wealthy  congregations 
which  can  aid  the  small  and  weak  ones  and  send 
home  missionaries  to  preach  to  the  unevangelized. 
Here  and  there  praiseworthy  beginnings  of  this  kind 
have  been  made;  but,  speaking  broadly,  the  native 
congregations  are  made  up  of  very  poor  people  who 
are  less  able  to  support  their  churches  than  mem- 
bers of  home  mission  churches  in  the  United  States. 
It  is  undoubtedly  better  to  let  them  struggle  and 
sacrifice  than  to  give  them  help  which  would  foster 
the  spirit  of  dependence;  but  we  should  not  see  the 
leaders,  who  are  most  indispensable  to  the  growth  of 
the  Church,  the  extension  of  the  gospel,  and  the  main- 


140  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

tenance  of  our  schools  and  colleges,  driven  into  com- 
mercial life  or  government  employ  because  their  full 
support  cannot  yet  be  provided  by  their  poverty- 
stricken  fellow  Christians.  The  question  which  con- 
fronts many  a  capable  Asiatic  minister  and  teacher  is 
not  so  much  additional  comfort  as  the  bare  necessities 
of  life  for  himself  and  his  family.  A  larger  sum  for 
this  purpose,  judiciously  used  by  prudent  mission 
boards,  will  not  harm  but  greatly  strengthen  the  work. 

How  It  Works.  Many  mission  fields  furnish  in- 
teresting examples  of  the  policy  of  self-support.  The 
most  competent  man  is  selected  as  local  leader,  and  he 
serves  without  compensation,  like  a  Sunday-school 
superintendent  in  America.  After  a  while,  when  his 
whole  time  is  required,  he  receives  a  small  salary,  but 
the  people  pay  it.  When  evangelists  are  employed  for 
work  in  villages  where  there  are  no  Christians,  the  older 
congregations  are  expected  to  contribute  something 
toward  their  support,  the  missionaries  supplementing 
this  fund  so  far  as  may  be  expedient.  Ninety-four 
per  cent,  of  the  1,152  salaried  evangelists  and  teachers 
of  one  mission  are  supported  by  the  native  congrega- 
tions. The  missionaries  do  not  go  to  unreasonable 
extremes  in  their  refusal  to  employ  native  Christians; 
they  use  them  wherever  the  interests  of  the  work  ap- 
pear to  them  to  necessitate  help.  But  the  pressure  for 
self-support  is  strong. 

The  response  of  the  native  Christians  often  moves 
the  visitor  deeply.  Imagine  a  call  for  an  offering  in 
a  congregation  whose  men's  wages  are  fifteen  cents 


SELF-SUPPORT  AND  SELF-PROPAGATION       141 

a  day  and  whose  women  toilers  earn  five!  Consider 
then  the  significance  of  the  fact  that  contributions  and 
fees  of  Christians  in  the  foreign  field  in  1913  for 
all  Christian  effort,  amounted  to  $7,085,230.  One 
board  reports  an  increase  in  receipts  on  the  mission 
field  of  377  per  cent,  in  ten  years.  During  the  same 
period,  its  receipts  from  Christians  in  the  United 
States  increased  130  per  cent.  It  is  true  that  the  gifts 
abroad  include  all  objects  and  that  at  home  the  refer- 
ence is  only  to  foreign  missions.  When  we  remember 
that  ten  cents  mean  as  much  in  Asia  as  a  dollar  means 
in  America,  such  gifts  bear  eloquent  witness  to  the 
genuineness  of  the  faith  of  the  givers. 

When  surprise  was  expressed  at  the  generous  con- 
tribution of  a  small  foreign  mission  church,  the  native 
elder  replied :  "Being  ignorant  people,  with  no  one  to 
instruct  us,  we  looked  unto  the  Bible  for  instruction, 
and  we  saw  that  at  least  a  tenth  of  our  income  must 
be  given  to  the  Lord  Jesus."  One  devout  Christian 
explained  the  fact  that  his  church  was  self-supporting 
by  saying  that  several  years  before,  the  believers  had 
learned  the  secret  of  giving,  which  was  that  giving  was 
an  offering  to  the  Lord  and  a  part  of  the  worship  of 
God. 

Unique  Kamerun  Offering.  Among  the  churches 
in  the  Kameruns  on  the  west  coast  of  Africa,  a 
convert  is  not  admitted  to  the  sacraments  unless  he 
gives  systematically  and  proportionately  to  the  Lord's 
work.  The  believers  build  their  own  churches.  "I 
never  saw  the  like  since  I  was  born,"  said  a  Bulu 


142  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

woman  as  she  stood  with  a  basket  on  her  back  and 
her  eyes  scanning  the  church  at  Elat.  The  Rev. 
A.  W.  Halsey,  then  visiting  the  mission,  echoed  her 
wonder,  for  he  found  the  church  the  largest  build- 
ing in  southern  Kamerun,  and  seating  4,00x3.  The 
center  posts,  brought  in  on  the  shoulders  of  men, 
reached  thirty-six  feet  above  ground.  One  thousand 
bamboo  poles,  carried  by  the  people  from  the  swamps 
and  entwined  by  bush  rope  holding  the  thatch  roof, 
served  as  rafters.  Ten  thousand  mats,  twelve  feet 
long,  made  of  bamboo  leaves  woven  by  the  schoolboys, 
constituted  the  roof.  Four  thousand  and  ten  persons 
were  present  at  the  dedication  in  1910.  To-day  15,000 
persons  are  on  the  contributing  list  in  a  church  of 
2,297  communicant  members  and  13,000  enrolled  can- 
didates for  membership.1 

Self -Propagation 

Inborn  Christian  Motive.  Self-propagation  is  an- 
other duty  which  boards  and  missionaries  diligently 
seek  to  cultivate  in  the  churches  in  the  mission  field. 
Converts  are  taught  that  the  missionary  motive  should 
become  operative  within  them  as  soon  as  they  become 
Christians,  and  that  they  are  under  the  same  obligation 
as  Christians  in  America  to  give  the  knowledge  of 

'Cf .  the  following  books  on  self-support :  John  L.  Nevius, 
Planting  and  Development  of  Missionary  Churches;  C.  H.  Car- 
penter, Self-Support  Illustrated  in  the  History  of  the  Bassein 
Karen  Mission  from  1840  to  1880;  J.  Campbell  Gibson,  Mission 
Problems  and  Mission  Methods  in  South  China. 


SELF-SUPPORT  AND  SELF-PROPAGATION       143 

Christ  to  others.  Our  Lord  adopted  this  method  in  his 
earthly  ministry.  While  he  preached  to  the  multitudes 
who  came  to  him,  he  taught  his  disciples  to  "go  out 
into  the  highways  and  hedges,  and  constrain  them  to 
come  in."  l  He  carefully  trained  a  body  of  men  to 
extend  the  work  after  his  death,  and  one  of  his  last 
commands  to  his  followers  was  to  "make  disciples  of 
all  the  nations."2  "Come"  was  Christ's  invitation 
to  sinners.  "Go"  and  seek  them  was  his  direction  to 
Christians.  Paul  also  worked  in  this  way.  He  went 
to  a  city,  proclaimed  the  gospel,  organized  believers 
into  a  church,  remained  long  enough  to  get  them  fairly 
started,  and  then  left  them  to  propagate  the  faith  them- 
selves. 

Evangelizing  and  Christianizing.  The  modern  mis- 
sionary will  have  to  remain  longer  than  Paul  did, 
for  he  does  not  find  such  prepared  conditions  as  the 
great  apostle  found  in  the  Jews  of  the  dispersion.  A 
land  may  be  evangelized  in  a  generation;  that  is,  all 
of  its  inhabitants  may  be  told  of  Christ ;  but  Christian- 
izing it,  that  is,  giving  them  an  intelligent  idea  of  what 
Christianity  means,  inducing  them  to  accept  it,  and 
to  conform  their  lives  to  its  teaching — this  may  be  the 
toilsome  process  of  centuries.  It  has  not  been  com- 
pleted yet  in  Europe  and  America,  although  the  gospel 
was  brought  to  our  ancestors  nearly  nineteen  hundred 
years  ago.  Moreover,  when  the  object  has  been  at- 
tained in  one  country,  the  responsibility  of  the  mis- 
sionarv  and  the  home  Church  will  not  cease  but  will  be 


'Luke  xiv.  23.  'Matt,  xxviii.  19. 


144  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

transferred  to  other  populations.  But  whether  our 
stay  in  a  given  field  be  long  or  short,  we  should  reso- 
lutely keep  in  mind  the  necessity  of  establishing  a  self- 
propagating  native  Church. 

Home  Church  Limitations.  Self-propagation  is 
necessary  from  the  view-point  of  the  home  Church. 
Europe  and  America  cannot  send  out  enough  mission- 
aries to  preach  the  gospel  effectively  to  all  the  thou- 
sand millions  of  the  non-Christian  world.  Consider 
how  many  persons  one  Christian  worker  can  be  reason- 
ably expected  to  lead  to  Christ  in  an  average  work- 
ing lifetime,  and  then  figure  out  how  many  workers 
would  be  required  for  a  billion  people.  The  mission 
boards  ought  not  to  appoint  so  many  missionaries  even 
if  they  could  get  them.  It  would  be  as  foolish  for 
them  to  send  out  a  hundred  thousand  missionaries  as 
it  would  be  for  a  government  to  f orm  an  army  of  gen- 
erals while  making  no  provision  for  subalterns,  non- 
commissioned officers,  and  privates.  The  foreign  mis- 
sionary is  an  apostle  in  the  literal  sense — one  sent,  a 
leader,  an  organizer,  a  superintendent.  He  is  to  bear 
the  first  message  and  train  those  who  receive  it  to  bear 
it  to  others.  Christ  appointed  twelve  apostles  for  that 
generation,  not  ten  thousand.  The  permanent  work  in 
each  community  was  done  by  local  Christians.  To 
supply  non-Christian  nations  with  the  proportion  of 
ministers  that  we  have  in  the  United  States  would 
require  1,500,000  ministers;  and  as  only  about  one 
third  of  the  foreign  missionary  body  is  composed  of 
ordained  men — the  others  being  teachers,  physicians, 


SELF-SUPPORT  AND  SELF-PROPAGATION       145 

nurses,  and  lay  evangelists — the  total  number  of  mis- 
sionaries on  this  basis  would  be  over  four  millions. 
Such  a  host  of  qualified  persons  could  not  be  found,1 
and  could  not  be  supported  if  found,  nor  should  the 
foreign  field  be  flooded  with  so  vast  an  army  of  aliens 
even  if  they  could  be  found  and  supported. 

Native  Workers  Indispensable.  The  native  worker 
must  be  the  main  dependence  for  spreading  Christian- 
ity in  a  non-Christian  land.  He  can  live  in  his  own 
country  on  much  less  than  a  foreigner,  and  he  has 
a  knowledge  of  native  idioms,  ways  of  thinking,  and 
manners  and  customs  that  few  foreigners  can  ever 
obtain.  There  is  no  racial  gulf  between  him  and  the 
people  to  whom  he  preaches.  There  is  much  about  the 
Asiatic  and  African  that  will  ever  remain  inscrutable 
to  the  American  and  European.  The  former,  in  par- 
ticular, is  apt  to  be  secretive  and  to  make  his  face  and 
manner  a  mask  to  conceal  his  real  thoughts.  The 
native  evangelist  is  able  to  get  behind  this  mask,  and 
just  because  he  is  a  native,  and  probably  one  of  superior 
force  of  character,  the  people  are  more  influenced  by 
him  than  by  a  foreigner.  Most  converts  are  now  made 
by  native  workers.  An  experienced  missionary  in 
Manchuria,  in  reporting  1,200  conversions,  said  that 
the  first  principles  of  Christian  instruction  were  im- 
planted almost  invariably  by  the  natives,  and  that  he 
could  not  trace  more  than  four  and  twenty  who  were 
directly  the  converts  of  the  foreign  missionary.  Other 

'See  author's  book  on  The  Why  and  How  of  Foreign  Missions, 
ch.  Ill,  "Qualifications  and  Appointment." 


146  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

missionaries  declare  that  five  hundred  native  evangel- 
ists would  be  a  far  greater  power  for  Christ  in  a  mis- 
sion field  than  five  thousand  foreigners. 

Place  Still  for  Foreign  Workers.  We  do  not  mean 
to  minimize  the  need  for  new  missionaries.  The  pres- 
ent force  is  far  too  small  for  effective  superintendence. 
The  home  Church  should  not  relax  its  efforts  to  pro- 
vide a  more  adequate  supply  of  foreign  workers ;  but, 
while  we  continue  this  effort,  we  must  try  to  develop 
in  every  possible  way  the  spirit  of  self -propagation 
in  the  native  Church.  Many  difficulties  beset  this 
problem.  Hundreds  of  native  Christians  may  ask 
employment  as  evangelists  who  are  quite  unfit  for  it; 
nor  is  every  one  who  is  willing  to  work  without  pay 
qualified  for  efficient  service.  But  these  and  other 
difficulties  can  and  should  be  overcome.  The  more 
successful  the  work  of  the  foreign  missionary,  the 
more  vital  it  is  to  develop  in  the  Church  a  zeal  to  main- 
tain and  extend  it. 

Test  of  Vitality.  Self-propagation  is  indispensable 
from  the  view-point  of  the  Church  itself,  quite  apart 
from  any  foreign  assistance  that  may  be  available.  A 
Church,  like  a  family  or  nation,  that  does  not  grow 
from  within  will  die,  for  its  members  will  have  no  suc- 
cessors. Real  growth  .cannot  be  stuck  on  from  the 
outside.  One  cannot  make  a  fruitful  tree  by  nailing 
on  branches  and  tying  on  apples.  The  principle  of 
growth  must  be  in  the  tree.  Real  love  for  Christ  will 
find  expression  in  desire  to  lead  others  to  him.  Self- 
propagation  is  therefore  an  evidence  of  vitality  and 


SELF-SUPPORT  AND  SELF-PROPAGATION       147 

energy,  and  in  developing  it  the  missionary  is  develop- 
ing the  very  life  itself. 

Does  this  statement  awaken  uncomfortable  reflec- 
tions in  the  minds  of  the  readers  of  these  pages?  How 
many  members  of  a  typical  church  in  Europe  and 
America  ever  think  of  speaking  even  to  their  acquaint- 
ances, to  say  nothing  of  strangers,  about  the  Christian 
life?  How  many  assume  that  their  minister  is  paid 
to  do  that  for  them?  Why  should  not  a  Christian 
speak  naturally  and  easily  about  a  subject  that  ought 
to  be  uppermost  in  his  mind? 

Personal  work  among  the  unconverted  is  far  more 
common  among  Christians  in  the  mission  field  than  in 
America.  It  is  true  that  not  all  professed  followers  of 
Christ  on  the  foreign  field  are  characterized  by  this 
zeal.  Some  missionaries,  like  nearly  all  ministers  at 
home,  are  depressed  by  the  disposition  of  church-mem- 
bers to  leave  such  work  to  the  men  who  receive  a 
salary  for  doing  it.  But  in  many  places  the  impulse 
to  tell  others  the  good  news  is  strong.  In  thousands 
of  villages  in  the  non-Christian  world,  not  a  day  passes 
that  devoted  believers  do  not  open  the  Word  of  God 
and  tell  the  story  of  Christ  to  their  listening  country- 
men. 

Pledging  Service.  During  a  Bible  training  class 
in  one  city,  the  men  were  invited  to  pledge  definite  time 
for  house-to-house  work  for  Christ.  Enough  days  of 
preaching  were  pledged  to  equal  the  work  of  one  man 
for  nine  years,  and  a  large  additional  number  of  men 
pledged  themselves  to  begin  each  day  with  the  petition: 


148  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

"Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  do  to-day?"  In  an- 
other letter  we  read :  "The  Church  is  waking  up  to  a 
strenuous  effort  to  take  the  gospel  to  every  house  this 
year.  At  a  circuit  class  250  were  present.  One  eve- 
ning was  given  to  the  subject  of  personal  work,  and  an 
opportunity  for  pledging  a  number  of  days'  work  dur- 
ing the  year  resulted  in  an  aggregate  of  2,700  days  of 
preaching  promised.  Some  Christians  who  could  not 
control  their  time  have  subscribed  each  a  half  month's 
salary.  An  ox-load  of  4,000  copies  of  Mark's  Gospel 
was  sent  to  me  during  the  class,  and  in  less  than  half 
an  hour  all  were  purchased  by  the  Christians  to  give 
to  such  as  promised  to  read  it.  The  Gospel  is  going 
to  reach  every  family  in  my  territory  this  year." 

Model  Village.  The  reputation  of  Sorai,  Korea, 
ought  to  be  as  wide  as  Christendom.  Think  of  a  vil- 
lage of  fifty-eight  houses,  in  fifty  of  which  all  persons 
over  fifteen  years  of  age  are  Christians;  a  community 
in  which  there  is  no  liquor,  no  vice  of  any  kind,  where 
the  Sabbath  is  scrupulously  kept,  and  the  entire  popula- 
tion attends  church,  Sunday-school,  and  prayer-meet- 
ing !  Two  brothers  were  God's  instruments  in  creating 
this  model  Christian  village.  The  elder  was  converted 
through  the  Rev .  John  Ross,  during  a  visit  in 
Manchuria.  Like  Andrew  of  old,  "he  findeth  first  his 
own  brother,  .  .  .  and  saith  unto  him :  We  have  found 
the  Messiah,  .  .  .  He  brought  him  unto  Jesus."  Re- 
moving to  Sorai,  these  brothers  preached  the  gospel 
with  such  power  and  exemplified  it  with  such  beauty 
of  character  that  the  whole  village  was  transformed. 


SELF-SUPPORT  AND  SELF-PROPAGATION       149 

No  missionary  resides  in  Sorai  and  none  is  needed,  for 
Sau  Kyung-jo  wisely  shepherds  the  flock. 

Eminent  Witnesses  in  Japan.  An  explosion  oc- 
curred on  a  Japanese  battleship.  The  son  of  the  Vice- 
Admiral  was  involved  in  the  wreckage.  While  search 
was  being  made  for  the  bodies,  many  prominent  Jap- 
anese called  upon  the  mother  to  offer  condolences.  She 
told  them  that  she  felt  the  need  of  the  consolations 
of  the  Christian  religion  in  that  time  of  anxiety,  and 
she  called  upon  her  Japanese  pastor  to  read  the  Word 
of  God  and  to  offer  prayer.  He  was  a  young  man  who 
had  been  recently  graduated  from  the  theological 
seminary.  It  was  a  difficult  position  for  him;  but  with 
tact  and  fidelity  he  opened  the  New  Testament  -and 
directed  the  hearts  of  all  to  the  throne  of  God,  while 
Japanese  in  high  official  position,  some  of  whom  had 
never  heard  such  words  before,  bowed  with  the 
anxious  mother.  Later,  the  body  of  the  son  was  found. 
The  stricken  parents  announced  that  the  public  fu- 
neral would  be  followed  by  a  Christian  service,  and  that 
any  of  their  friends  who  wished  to  come  would  be  wel- 
come. A  distinguished  company  assembled.  The 
young  Japanese  again  spoke,  impressively  dwelling 
upon  the  Christian  meaning  of  death  and  the  comfort 
which  God  gives  to  his  children  in  the  time  of  need. 

Mr.  Morimura  Ichizaimon,  a  wealthy  merchant  of 
Tokyo,  became  a  Christian  late  in  life  and  immediately 
dedicated  himself  to  witnessing  for  Christ.  In  his 
addresses  he  tells  his  personal  history.  The  Rev.  J.  B. 
Hail,  who  heard  him  speak  in  a  series  of  crowded 


150  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

meetings,  writes  that  he  said  of  himself :  "I  began  my 
mercantile  career  with  just  ten  tempos  (eight  cents). 
I  was  not  acquainted  with  either  Buddhism  or  Shin- 
toism.  But  I  thought  there  must  be  One  somewhere 
in  the  heavens  who  cared  for  men,  and  I  prayed  to  that 
One  whom  I  did  not  know,  and  I  am  sure  that  he  has 
helped  me  although  I  did  not  know  him.  When  I  had 
time  afterwards,  I  studied  Buddhism,  Confucianism, 
and  Shintoism;  but  they  gave  me  no  satisfaction. 
After  seventy  years  spent  in  getting  money,  I  found 
that  money  could  not  satisfy  me.  But  at  last  I  found 
what  I  need  in  the  Bible.  In  it  I  found  Christ  and  in 
Christ  I  found  God,  and  now  I  have  given  myself  with 
all  that  I  have  to  God,  and  am  as  peaceful  in  mind  and 
heart  as  an  infant  in  its  mother's  arms.  Since  I  have 
given  myself  with  all  I  have  to  Christ,  I  have  had  the 
only  true  joy  that  I  have  ever  known.  The  knowledge 
of  Christ  is  better  than  all  the  wealth  of  the  world.  I 
am  now  eighty- four  years  old.  My  sons  and  family, 
when  I  told  them  that  I  was  going  to  witness  for  Christ, 
tried  to  dissuade  me.  They  said :  'There  are  plenty  of 
young  men  to  do  that;  you  are  old  and  should  take 
things  easy.  You  do  not  need  to  do  this.'  But  I  said : 
'It  may  be  that  as  I  am  an  old  man  I  will  die  on  the 
road,  or  I  may  fall  dead  in  the  pulpit.  Well,  let  it 
be  so,  I  am  going  to  spend  the  remainder  of  my  days 
in  testifying  for  my  Lord.'  When  they  saw  that  they 
could  not  dissuade  me,  they  reluctantly  agreed  to  my 
starting  out.  I  have  renewed  my  youth  and  am  as 
well  as  I  ever  was  in  my  life."  The  reputation  of  this 


I 


UN  HO.  THE  BLIND  LEPER  GIRL 


SELF-SUPPORT  AND  SELF-PROPAGATION       151 

man  brings  out  large  audiences  of  the  merchant  class, 
and  his  simple  story  makes  a  profound  impression. 

Fruitful  Chinese  Lives.  That  man  of  God,  Ding 
Li  Mei,  of  China,  is  one  of  the  great  evangelists  of  the 
century.  Missionary  letters  have  teemed  for  years 
with  accounts  of  his  services.  He  sways  multitudes, 
and  without  finding  it  necessary  to  be  coarse  or  sen- 
sational. His  language  and  manner  are  those  of  a  cul- 
tivated Christian  gentleman  and  men  take  knowledge 
of  him  that  he  has  been  with  Jesus. 

Who  could  have  a  more  limited  opportunity  for 
personal  Christian  work  than  a  leper  girl  ?  Born  blind, 
sold  by  her  callous  parents  into  slavery,  Un  Ho  was 
led  by  her  owner  through  the  streets  of  Canton  to  sing 
for  copper  coins.  Her  foot  becoming  sore,  she  was 
taken  to  a  mission  hospital,  where  her  foot  had  to  be 
amputated.  The  woman  who  owned  her  then  cast 
her  off  as  useless.  But  in  the  hospital,  Un  Ho  listened 
to  the  reading  of  the  New  Testament,  learned  to  re- 
peat the  whole  of  it  except  a  few  chapters  from  the 
Book  of  Revelation,  and  joyfully  gave  her  heart  to 
Christ.  She  was  then  discovered  to  be  a  leper  and 
was  sent  to  the  leper  settlement  outside  of  the  east 
gate.  There  was  no  other  Christian  there,  and  so  day 
by  day  Un  Ho  repeated  the  chapters  from  the  Bible, 
and  in  three  months  brought  thirty  people  to  the  mis- 
sionaries to  be  baptized.  During  her  illness  she  led 
190  other  lepers  to  Christ.  A  blind,  slave,  sick, 
crippled,  leper,  peasant,  Chinese  girl  leading  220  hope- 
lessly diseased  men  and  women  to  him  who,  when  on 


152  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

earth,  laid  his  hands  on  a  leper  and  tenderly  said :  "Be 
thou  clean !" 

Missionary  Impulse.  Several  of  the  churches  in 
Asia  and  Africa  have  undertaken  home  mission 
work  in  a  systematic  way  and  some  of  them  have 
started  work  in  other  lands.  The  Japanese  churches 
have  well-organized  boards  of  home  missions  and  they 
are  extending  their  work  to  Korea.  In  the  latter 
country,  the  native  churches  sent  one  of  their  first  or- 
dained clergymen  as  a  missionary  to  the  island  of  Quel- 
part  in  1907.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  he  was  a 
man  who  had  stoned  Dr.  Samuel  Moffett  on  the  streets 
of  Pingyang  nineteen  years  before.  Korean  Chris- 
tians have  now  undertaken  regular  missionary  work 
among  Korean  emigrants  to  Manchuria  and  the  un- 
evangelized  Chinese  in  the  Province  of  Shantung.  A 
missionary  reports  that  a  city  church  in  his  station  is 
carrying  on  home  mission  work  in  over  140  villages  in 
the  adjacent  region,  that  every  Sunday  the  members 
go  out  for  regular  preaching,  and  that  other  churches 
are  no  whit  behind  in  bringing  in  new  believers.  A 
man  was  overheard  praying  in  Chung-ju:  "O  Lord, 
we  are  a  despised  people,  the  weakest  nation  on  the 
earth.  But  thou  art  a  God  who  choosest  the  despised 
things.  Wilt  thou  use  this  nation  to  show  forth  thy 
glory  in  Asia !" 

Such  facts  as  these  encourage  us  to  apply  to  the 
churches  in  several  non-Christian  lands  what  the  Rev. 
Daniel  Crosby  Greene  said  of  Japan:  "It  is  a  matter 
for  great  rejoicing  that  with  the  growth  in  numbers 


SELF-SUPPORT  AND  SELF-PROPAGATION       153 

there  is  an  increasing  sense  of  responsibility  for  the 
evangelization  of  their  own  country.  There  has  al- 
ready grown  up  a  large  body  of  self  supporting 
churches  which  are  deeply  imbued  with  the  belief  that 
it  is  their  duty  to  prove  to  the  world  that  Christianity 
is  no  longer  an  exotic,  but  has  planted  its  roots  firmly 
in  the  soil  of  their  native  land." 


VII 
SOCIAL  SERVICE  AND  SELF-GOVERNMENT 

Social  Service 

Change  of  Emphasis.  A  few  years  ago,  most  writers 
on  the  essential  duties  to  which  a  church  should 
be  trained  would  not  have  included  social  service.  The 
social  responsibilities  of  Christians  were  recognized 
in  a  general  way,  but  they  were  regarded  as  incidental. 
The  followers  of  Christ  are  now  realizing  that  these 
responsibilities  demand  larger  attention  as  one  of  the 
primary  obligations  of  a  true  church  of  God.  The 
necessity  for  this  is  particularly  urgent  on  the  foreign 
field  where  social  conditions  are  most  radically  and 
lamentably  wrong.  The  evils  are  so  great  and  the 
neglect  of  the  defective  classes  is  so  heartless  that  mis- 
sionaries cannot  ignore  them. 

Until  comparatively  recent  years  medical  missions 
represented  the  only  systematic  effort  to  meet  these 
evils  by  direct  methods.  The  gospel  wrought  many 
social  changes  in  other  directions ;  but,  while  they  were 
considered  of  primary  importance  by  government  offi- 
cials and  others  who  are  not  particularly  interested  in 
the  spiritual  phases  of  missionary  work,  they  were 
regarded  as  more  or  less  incidental  by  many  supporters 
of  missions  and  by  some  missionaries.  Their  inter- 
pretation of  the  aim  of  the  missionary  enterprise — 
to  preach  the  gospel  and  to  plant  the  Church — did  not 

i55 


156  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

include  any  more  changes  in  this  world  than  were  be- 
lieved to  be  necessary  to  fit  man  for  the  world  to  come. 
Even  medical  missions  were  encouraged  chiefly  as  a 
means  of  opening  doors  of  opportunity  for  preaching, 
and  not  because  hospitals  were  recognized  as  an  essen- 
tial part  of  missionary  work.  I  have  heard  arguments 
to  the  effect  that  hospitals  are  no  longer  needed  in 
Korea,  as  the  opportunities  for  evangelistic  work  are 
now  sufficiently  great  without  them.  Industrial  schools 
were  sharply  denounced.  Robert  Needham  Cust,  an 
acknowledged  English  authority  of  the  last  generation, 
wrote:  "No  one  can  doubt  the  benevolence  of  those 
who  undertake  such  enterprises ;  but  I  think  most  prob- 
ably the  spirituality  of  the  manager  must  be  driven 
out  of  him.  .  .  .  The  whole  thing  is  so  thoroughly 
contrary  to  apostolic  practise  and  post-apostolic  expe- 
rience. The  duty  of  the  missionary  is  to  preach  the 
gospel,  and  nothing  else,  except  what  helps  preaching 
the  gospel.  His  converts  and  his  church  may  be  poor 
and  uncivilized;  that  is  not  his  affair;  the  poor  have 
the  gospel  preached  to  them;  that  is  his  sole  duty."  1 
Initial  Social  Efforts.  Many  missionaries  concerned 
themselves  with  the  pitiful  condition  of  famine  suffer- 
ers, fallen  women,  the'  blind,  the  insane,  the  orphaned, 
and  the  deaf  and  dumb;  but  at  first  they  usually  acted 
on  their  own  initiative.  In  some  instances  their  efforts 
were  disapproved  by  their  associates  and  by  their 
boards.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  John  G.  Kerr,  of  Canton,  China, 

*Essay  on  Prevailing  Methods  of  the  Evangelisation  of  the 
Non-Christian  World,  16. 


DR.  KERR'S  HOSPITAL  FOR  THE   IXSAXE 
DR.  XILES'  SCHOOL  FOR  BLIND  GIRLS 


SOCIAL  SERVICE  AND  SELF-GOVERNMENT      157 

built  their  hospital  for  the  insane,  Dr.  Mary  Niles, 
also  of  Canton,  her  school  for  the  blind,  Mrs.  Annetta 
T.  Mills  her  school  for  the  deaf  and  dumb  at  Chefoo, 
without  official  assistance  beyond  the  payment  of  their 
salaries,  and  were  left  for  many  years  to  carry  per- 
sonally the  burden  of  superintending  their  respective 
institutions  and  of  obtaining  financial  support  for 
them.  Fortunately,  these  missionaries  had  large  self- 
reliance  and  force  of  character,  and  by  indefatigable 
labors,  which  sometimes  involved  great  anxieties,  they 
managed  to  develop  and  sustain  their  enterprises.  The 
rescue  work  for  Chinese  prostitutes  in  Shanghai  was 
conceived  in  the  same  way,  not  as  the  result  of  any 
recognized  policy,  but  as  the  effort  of  a  group  of  mis- 
sionaries acting  outside  of  their  specified  duties.  The 
splendid  effort  that  has  been  made  in  behalf  of  the 
prostitutes  in  Japan  was  inaugurated  by  an  individual 
missionary,  and  the  only  agency  which  has  officially 
taken  up  this  work  as  an  integral  part  of  its  regular 
operations  is  the  Salvation  Army.  Dr.  James  W.  Mc- 
Kean,  of  northern  Siam,  bore  a  heavy  load  of  care  in 
developing  a  beneficent  work  for  lepers  near  Chieng- 
mai.  Other  instances  might  be  cited  in  various  lands. 
These  are,  of  course,  general  statements.  It  would 
be  easy  to  cite  exceptions;  but  the  main  fact  remains 
that,  as  a  rule,  the  application  of  the  gospel  to  social 
conditions  was  not  regarded  until  recently  as  an  essen- 
tial part  of  the  missionary  enterprise  but  was  largely 
left  to  individuals.  The  common  idea  was  either  that 
this  world  was  so  doomed  anyway  that  the  only  thing 


158  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

to  be  done  was  to  pluck  as  many  brands  as  possible 
from  the  burning  before  it  was  too  late  to  do  so,  or 
that  the  gospel  could  be  left  to  work  out  its  own  re- 
formatory effects  in  society.  It  was  recognized  that 
social  conditions  needed  to  be  changed;  but  it  was 
believed  that  the  native  Churches  would  attend  to  them 
in  due  time.  When  a  certain  missionary  on  furlough 
was  asked,  in  a  conference  with  students,  what  his 
mission  was  doing  in  the  way  of  social  service,  he 
replied:  "Nothing;  we  are  too  busy  preaching  the 
gospel."  It  would  be  easy  to  show  that  this  answer 
was  not  a  fair  characterization  of  the  work  of  his 
mission;  but  it  illustrates  the  attitude  of  mind  which 
long  prevailed. 

Former  Attitude  of  Home  Churches.  The  mission- 
aries who  held  this  view  merely  reflected  the  attitude 
of  their  home  churches.  Christians  have  founded  and 
are  supporting  nine  tenths  of  the  charitable  work  of 
our  American  communities  and  have  been  the  chief 
factors  -in  promoting  legislation  for  municipal,  county, 
and  state  institutions  for  the  sick,  the  poor,  and  the 
defective.  But  efforts  of  this  kind  were  not  consid- 
ered the  duty  of  the  churches  themselves,  and  when 
time  and  money  were  thus  "diverted"  from  church 
"work,"  the  action  was  sometimes  resented.  The  com- 
mon idea  was  expressed  in  the  hymn  which  congrega- 
tions used  to  sing  with  self-satisfied  fervor: 

"Pull  for  the  shore,  sailor; 

Pull   for  the  shore. 
Leave  the  poor  old  stranded  wreck, 
And  pull  for  the  shore." 


SOCIAL  SERVICE  AND  SELF-GOVERNMENT      159 

Ministers  were  supposed  to  devote  themselves  exclu- 
sively to  sermons,  prayer-meetings,  and  pastoral  work, 
and  their  themes  were  to  be  "the  gospel"  only,  in  alleged 
imitation  of  St.  Paul  who  was  determined  not  to 
"know  anything,  .  .  .  save  Jesus  Christ  and  him  cruci- 
fied." l  It  did  not  occur  to  them  that  St.  Paul's 
Epistles  afford  abundant  evidence  that  he  interpreted 
Jesus  Christ  in  terms  of  the  whole  duty  and  relation- 
ship of  man,  making  him  the  regulative  principle  of 
all  human  life.  Indeed,  a  veteran  clergyman,  after 
hearing  that  I  had  preached  a  sermon  on  the  pitiable 
lot  of  women  and  children  in  sweat-shops,  piously  said 
that  he  thanked  God  that  in  a  ministry  of  fifty  years 
he  had  never  preached  on  such  a  subject  but  that  he 
had  confined  himself  to  the  gospel! 

Similar  convictions  built  up  churches  which  had 
eloquent  preaching  and  inspiring  music,  paid  for  by 
pewholders  some  of  whom,  as  recent  events  have 
shown,  spent  their  week-days  as  insurance  grafters, 
political  corruptionists,  betrayers  of  trust  funds,  and 
child-labor  employers.  When  an  indignant  public 
sentiment  began  to  castigate  them,  they  lifted  their 
hands  in  innocent  surprise  that  any  one  should  imagine 
that  they  had  been  doing  wrong.  Religion  was  con- 
ceived as  a  man's  private  affair  and  as  having  no 
necessary  relation  to  business  or  politics.  The  Euro- 
pean war  has  given  frightful  illustration  of  the  inade- 
quacy of  that  interpretation  of  Christianity. 

Example  of  Christ  and  the  Apostles.    We  should  not, 


160  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

however,  go  to  the  other  extreme  by  insisting  that  the 
preeminent  duty  of  the  Church  is  not  to  preach  the 
gospel  but  to  effect  social  reforms.  This  would  be  a 
false  alternative.  No  such  distinction  is  permissible  be- 
tween the  gospel  and  social  service  rightly  understood. 
Christ  and  his  apostles  made  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel  the  first  thing,  and  they  did  not  organize  soci- 
eties for  the  prevention  of  crime  or  found  orphanages 
and  insane  asylums.  On  the  other  hand,  the  age  in 
which  Christ  lived  and  the  time  and  circumstances  of 
his  brief  ministry  did  not  make  it  practicable  for  him 
to  do  many  things  which  he  might  have  done  in  other 
circumstances  and  which  he  expects  his  followers  to 
do.  If  he  and  his  apostles  did  not  undertake  special 
lines  of  social  service,  neither  did  they  organize  Sun- 
day-schools, women's  societies,  young  people's  soci- 
eties, mission  bands,  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tions, and  other  agencies  which  are  now  deemed  indis- 
pensable parts  of  Christian  activity.  But  Christ  did 
heal  the  sick  on  a  large  scale.  He  opened  the  eyes  of 
the  blind,  he  made  the  deaf  to  hear,  the  dumb  to  speak, 
and  the  lame  to  walk,  he  restored  reason  to  the  insane, 
and  he  encouraged  special  ministries  to  the  poor.  The 
apostles  organized  a  board  of  deacons  to  relieve  desti- 
tute widows.1  In  doing  these  things  to-day,  we  are 
but  following  his  example. 

The  spirit  of  Christ  calls  us  to  do  something  more 
in  the  direction  of  social  service  than  the  Church  has 
yet  done  either  at  home  or  abroad.  No  such  highly 

'Acts  vi.  1-6. 


SOCIAL  SERVICE  AND  SELF-GOVERNMENT      161 

developed  creeds  and  church  organizations  as  we  have 
to-day  were  formulated  by  our  Lord  or  by  St.  Paul; 
but  we  are  not  going  to  disband  our  churches  or  burn 
our  creeds  on  that  account.  I  believe,  with  all  my 
heart,  that  the  supreme  duty  of  the  missionary  enter- 
prise is  to  make  Jesus  Christ  intelligently  known  as 
a  personal  Savior,  to  induce  men  to  accept  him  as 
such,  and  to  aid  them  in  establishing  a  self-propa- 
gating, self-supporting,  and  self-governing  Church. 
Evangelistic  work,  therefore,  should  be  first  in  impor- 
tance always  and  everywhere. 

But  when  the  gospel  is  introduced  among  a  non- 
Christian  people,  we  should  not  leave  converts  to  ascer- 
tain and  work  out  unaided  the  meaning  of  that  gospel 
in  human  society.  It  has  taken  western  Christians 
many  centuries  to  learn  this  lesson.  Why  should  we 
leave  Asiatics  and  Africans  to  stumble  along  for  the 
same  number  of  centuries?  It  is  a  reproach  to  the 
Churches  of  America  and  Europe  that  they  have  so 
largely  left  the  outworking  of  the  gospel  in  society 
to  independent  and  voluntary  organizations. 

Social  Vision  Needed.  Of  what  avail  to  tell  a  young 
Christian  that  he  should  abstain  from  liquor,  when 
saloons  on  every  corner  incite  him  to  drink;  to  teach 
a  girl  that  she  should  be  pure  in  a  land  whose  social 
customs  openly  recognize  impurity ;  to  insist  that  a  boy 
shall  be  honest  when  dishonesty  is  woven  into  the  very 
warp  and  woof  of  the  family  and  commercial  life  of 
which  he  is  a  part  ?  The  Rev.  John  E.  Clough,  mission- 
ary to  the  Telugus,  found  that  he  could  make  no  head- 


162  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

way  among  the  filthy  carrion-eating  Pariahs  of  his 
district  unless  he  changed  the  whole  structure  of  their 
village  life.  Principal  A.  G.  Eraser  of  Kandy,  Ceylon, 
and  Mr.  Sam  Higginbottom  of  Allahabad  soon  came  to 
the  conclusion  that  to  educate  village  boys  in  arithmetic, 
geography,  and  Bible  history,  and  to  send  them  out 
with  no  training  that  would  enable  them  to  earn  a 
decent  living,  was  to  pour  water  through  a  sieve.  We 
are  working  at  tremendous  disadvantage  in  trying  to 
save  individuals  if  we  ignore  the  social  conditions 
which  influence  them.  It  is  important  to  pull  men  out 
of  the  mire;  but  the  proportion  of  rescued  men  will  be 
small  if  we  do  not  lessen  the  mire  into  which  others 
are  constantly  falling.  Much  Christian  work  in  the 
past  has  been  done  on  the  principle  of  the  Chinese  cart. 
There  are  no  roads  in  China,  except  ancient  ruts  that 
are  filled  with  dust  in  the  dry  season  and  with  mud 
and  water  in  the  wet  season.  Instead  of  improving 
the  roads,  the  Chinese  tried  to  make  an  indestructible 
springless  cart.  They  succeeded  in  making  one  that 
no  traveler  can  use  without  agony  and  temptation  to 
strong  language  as  it  jumps  and  jolts  along;  but 
modern  China  is  awakening  to  the  fact  that  it  is  worth 
while  to  spend  money  on  roads  as  well  as  carts. 

True  Reforms  Are  Evangelistic.  The  gospel  of 
Christ  is  as  truly  presented  in  the  schools  for  the  blind 
and  for  the  deaf  and  dumb,  the  asylums  and  orphan- 
ages and  homes  for  child  widows,  as  it  is  in  what  we 
call  evangelistic  work.  Are  they  not  evangelistic  too? 
Did  not  Livingstone  preach  an  essential  part  of  the 


SOCIAL  SERVICE  AND  SELF-GOVERNMENT      163 

gospel  when  he  proclaimed  to  western  nations  the 
horrors  of  African  slavery  as  the  open  sore  of  the 
world?  Did  not  missionaries  in  India  serve  the  cause 
of  Christ  when  they  protested  against  the  immolation 
of  wives  on  the  death  of  their  husbands,  the  mission- 
aries in  Siam  when  they  persuaded  the  king  to  issue 
a  decree  against  the  national  vice  of  gambling,  and  the 
missionaries  in  China  when  they  inaugurated  the  re- 
cent crusade  against  opium?  I  dissent  from  those 
who  feel  that  we  should  leave  such  work  to  outside 
agencies  and  who  begrudge  every  dollar  that  the  boards 
spend  upon  it  lest  it  be  taken  away  from  "direct  Chris- 
tian work."  If  I  may  adapt  a  sentence  which  Glad- 
stone was  wont  to  use  in  contradicting  a  statement  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  "I  wish  to  be  understood  as 
making  my  dissent  as  emphatic  as  the  rules  of  the 
House  will  permit." 

Value  of  Mission  Philanthropies.  I  am  not  urging 
anything  that  is  new  to  the  mission  boards,  for  nearly 
all  of  them  to-day  are  conducting  social  work  of  this 
kind  on  a  large  scale  and  regard  it  as  an  integral  sec- 
tion of  their  work.  Indeed  a  considerable  part  of  the 
modern  missionary  enterprise  might  be  called  Chris- 
tian social  settlement  work  on  a  large  scale.  It  is  one 
of  the  glories  of  the  foreign  missionary  enterprise  that, 
along  with  its  numerous  churches  and  its  expanding 
evangelistic  work  and  as  an  essential  part  of  its  inter- 
pretation of  Christ  to  the  non-Christian  world,  it  in- 
cludes 1,6 1 6  hospitals  and  dispensaries  which  are  treat- 
ing five  million  patients  a  year,  25  institutions  for  the 


164  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

blind  and  for  deaf-mutes,  88  leper  hospitals  and 
asylums,  21  rescue  homes  for  fallen  women,  and  21 
homes  for  untainted  children  of  lepers.  These  insti- 
tutions, in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  mission  boards 
have  been  able  to  give  them  only  meager  equipment, 
are  conducted  by  carefully  selected  missionaries  who 
have  received  the  best  modern  training  for  their  spe- 
cial lines  of  work.  I  discuss  the  question  here,  partly 
because  their  course  in  this  matter  is  not  unanimously 
approved,  and  partly  because  the  whole  subject  of  the 
relationship  of  the  Church  to  such  work  needs  to  be 
more  systematically  studied.  The  fact  that  modern 
missions  are  exerting  such  an  enormous  social  influence 
is  a  strong  testimony  to  the  normal  outworking  of  the 
gospel  in  this  direction.  But  the  situation  should  be 
more  adequately  faced,  and  we  should  not  be  afraid  to 
follow  our  Christian  impulses  to  aid  the  afflicted  and 
dependent  in  the  name  and  spirit  of  our  Lord  for  fear 
that  we  may  do  something  outside  of  our  missionary 
responsibilities. 

Missionaries,  therefore,  try  to  impress  the  native 
churches  with  their  duty  toward  the  social  evils  of 
their  respective  countries.  These  churches  are  not 
yet  financially  able  to  carry  this  burden  unaided;  nor 
do  they  yet  know  how  such  work  ought  to  be  done, 
even  if  they  were  financially  able  to  do  it.  It  would 
not  be  practicable  for  mission  boards  to  establish  the 
necessary  institutions  all  over  the  non-Christian  world, 
or  even  those  that  are  needed  in  any  particular  country. 
But  we  should  equip  and  support  a  limited  number  so 


SOCIAL  SERVICE  AND  SELF-GOVERNMENT      165 

that  they  will  be  representative  ones  which  will  serve 
as  object-lessons  to  show  what  the  Christ  spirit  in- 
volves. Mrs.  Annetta  T.  Mills,  superintendent  of  the 
mission  school  for  deaf  mutes  at  Chefoo,  China,  has 
visited  many  of  the  leading  cities  of  that  country,  tak- 
ing with  her  several  pupils  and  explaining  to  officials 
and  other  influential  Chinese  what  can  be  done  for  that 
hitherto  helpless  and  neglected  part  of  the  teeming 
population  of  China.  The  John  G.  Kerr  Hospital  for 
the  insane  in  Canton  has  demonstrated  to  the  Chinese 
that  insane  persons  should  not  be  driven  out  as  pos- 
sessed of  the  devil.  It  would  be  lamentable  if  the 
Church  were  to  leave  many  of  the  Master's  helpless 
ones  to  be  neglected  or  to  be  cared  for  by  secular  and 
perhaps  antichristian  agencies. 

Power  to  Open  Doors.  As  for  removing  preju- 
dices, winning  good-will,  and  creating  opportunities 
for  making  Christ  known  in  places  which  are  ordi- 
narily difficult  of  access,  what  could  be  more  effective 
than  loving  ministries  to  the  suffering?  A  native  of 
Yamada  lost  both  legs  in  the  war  with  Russia.  The 
Rev.  and  Mrs.  W.  F.  Hereford  thought  that  the  poor, 
helpless  cripple  would  have  a  better  chance  to  earn 
a  living  if  he  had  an  invalid's  rolling  chair.  Mrs. 
Hereford  raised  some  money  by  selling  curios  and 
embroideries,  and  a  stereopticon  lecture  by  Mr.  Here- 
ford and  a  few  small  local  gifts  made  up  the  sum 
required  to  buy  the  chair  in  America  and  to  pay  the 
freight.  Nothing  was  left  but  the  duty  of  30  yen 
($15).  Mr.  Hereford  suggested  to  a  Japanese  offi- 


166  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

cial  that,  as  the  man  had  given  his  legs  for  his  country, 
the  country  ought  to  give  the  duty  on  the  chair.  The 
official  laughed  at  him  and  said  that  no  one  but  a  for- 
eigner would  ever  think  of  such  a  thing.  The  mis- 
sionary argued  the  question  with  him,  and  the  official 
finally  gave  his  consent  and  the  mayor  and  the  governor 
signed  the  request.  The  chair  was  delivered  to  the  city 
office.  The  Japanese  pastor  carried  the  man  there  on 
his  back,  and  the  cripple  had  his  first  ride  in  the  munic- 
ipal building  in  the  presence  of  all  the  officials.  "We 
were  glad,"  said  the  missionary,  "to  be  able  to  do  this 
work  for  a  man  who  was  not  a  Christian."  All  this  took 
time  and  trouble,  but  both  were  unselfishly  given  to 
help  an  afflicted  man  who  had  never  been  inside  of  a 
Christian  church.  The  result  was  a  profound  impres- 
sion upon  the  whole  city,  which  recognized  the  spirit 
which  animates  the  followers  of  Christ. 

An  All-Round  Gospel.  The  gospel  means  some- 
thing more  than  physical  aid  for  the  afflicted,  some- 
thing more  than  hospitals,  asylums,  and  orphanages. 
It  is  not  our  main  object  to  clean  up  houses  and  cities, 
lessen  poverty,  and  change  man's  external  conditions 
so  that  he  will  be  a  more  decent  and  attractive  animal. 
But  it  is  also  true  that  the  Christian  life  means  some- 
thing more  than  preaching  and  praying.  The  Epistle 
of  James  has  some  caustic  words  on  this  subject.  We 
must  enunciate  and  explain  the  teachings  of  Christ; 
but  we  must  do  more — we  must  show  an  ignorant 
people  what  these  teachings  mean  in  daily  life.  The 
Old  Testament  prophets  and  the  New  Testament 


TILE   FACTORY,   MALABAR   COAST 
EMBROIDERY   WORKS.    CALCUTTA 


SOCIAL  SERVICE  AND  SELF-GOVERNMENT      167 

apostles  dealt  not  only  with  doctrines  but  with  the  ills 
and  weaknesses  and  wrongs  of  human  society — the 
sick,  the  blind,  the  lame,  the  deaf,  the  demoniac,  im- 
purity, intemperance,  shiftlessness,  poverty,  crime,  op- 
pressions by  the  rich  and  powerful  and  the  wrongs 
and  sufferings  of  the  poor.  When  Christ  preached  in 
Nazareth,  he  "found  the  place  where  it  was  written, 
The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon  me,  because  he  anointed 
me  to  preach  good  tidings  to  the  poor :  he  hath  sent  me 
to  proclaim  release  to  the  captives,  and  recovering  of 
sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them  that  are 
bruised,  to  proclaim  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord."  l 
He  held  up  the  Good  Samaritan  as  a  worthy  example, 
and  he  condemned  the  priest  and  the  Levite  who  passed 
by  on  the  other  side  of  a  suffering  man.2  In  the  par- 
able of  the  great  supper,  he  represented  "the  master  of 
the  house"  as  saying  to  his  servant:  "Go  out  quickly 
into  the  streets  and  lanes  of  the  city,  and  bring  in  hither 
the  poor  and  maimed  and  blind  and  lame."  3  He  made 
the  spirit  of  helpfulness  for  human  need  one  of  the 
proofs  of  his  Messiahship,  for  when  the  discouraged 
John  the  Baptist  sent  his  disciples  to  ask:  "Art  thou 
he  that  cometh,  or  look  we  for  another  ?  .  .  .  He  an- 
swered and  said  unto  them:  Go  your  way  and  tell 
John  what  things  ye  have  seen  and  heard;  the  blind 
receive  their  sight,  the  lame  walk,  the  lepers  are 
cleansed  and  the  deaf  hear,  the  dead  are  raised  up, 
the  poor  have  good  tidings  preached  to  them."  4  And 

'Luke  iv.  17-19.  2Luke  x.  30-37-  'Luke  xiv.  21. 

4Luke  vii.  20-22. 


168  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

in  his  solemn  description  of  the  rewards  and  punish- 
ments to  be  announced  when  he  "shall  come  in  his 
glory,"  he  declared  that  the  inheritance  should  be  given 
to  those  who  had  ministered  to  their  hungry,  thirsty, 
lonely,  sick,  and  imprisoned  fellow  men,  and  that  those 
who  had  failed  to  do  this  should  be  banished  from 
his  presence  forever.1 

Let  us  declare  and  exemplify  the  whole  gospel  as 
Jesus  did.  "A  Christianity  which  does  not  go  about 
'doing  good'  is  not  the  Christianity  of  Christ.  A  re- 
ligion which  ignores  the  healing  of  the  body  is  not  the 
religion  of  him  who  'took  our  infirmities,  and  bare  our 
diseases.'  A  religion  which  ignores  child  labor  and 
child  mortality  is  not  the  religion  of  him  who  took  the 
children  in  his  arms.  A  religion  which  has  nothing  to 
say  about  vice  and  crime  in  the  modern  city  cannot 
claim  kinship  with  the  power  that  speaks  out  in  the 
great  apostolic  letters  to  Corinth  and  Rome  and 
Ephesus.  A  faith  that  merely  hopes  the  will  of  God 
will  be  done  in  heaven  as  it  is  not  on  earth  is  not  the 
faith  of  the  Lord's  Prayer."  2 

Self -Government 
Self-government  is  a  right  as  well  as  a  duty  and 


'Matt,  xxv.  34-46. 

2W.  H.  P.  Faunce,  The  Social  Aspects  of  Foreign  Missions, 
22,  23.  Compare  also  James  S.  Dennis,  Christian  Missions  and 
Social  Progress;  Edward  C.  Capen,  Sociological  Progress  in 
Mission  Lands;  and  John  E.  Clough,  Social  Christianity  in  the 
Orient. 


SOCIAL  SERVICE  AND  SELF-GOVERNMENT      169 

therefore  one  for  which  the  rising  churches  in  non- 
Christian  lands  must  be  carefully  fitted.  How  can 
churches  reasonably  be  expected  to  assume  the  obliga- 
tions of  self-support,  self -propagation,  and  social  serv- 
ice if  they  are  denied  their  freedom  as  autonomous 
bodies  ?  But  the  question  bristles  with  perplexities. 

The  Mission  Side.  Boards  and  missions  have  hither- 
to controlled  Christian  work  in  non-Christian  lands. 
This  was  inevitable  during  the  early  stages  of  the  en- 
terprise when  converts  were  few,  ignorant,  without 
experience  or  consciousness  of  power,  and  almost 
wholly  dependent  upon  the  boards  and  the  missions; 
looking  to  them  for  the  supervision  of  their  churches, 
the  support  of  the  schools  which  educated  their  chil- 
dren, and  the  hospitals  which  cared  for  their  sick,  and 
even  the  salaries  of  their  preachers  and  teachers.  It 
was  natural  in  such  circumstances  that  white  men,  un- 
consciously perhaps,  should  come  to  regard  themselves 
as  sole  arbiters  of  the  work.  Indeed,  many  of  the  first 
churches  were  largely  composed  of  missionaries  and 
their  families  who  naturally  exercised  a  supremacy  that 
was  as  inevitable  as  it  was  often  unconscious.  Native 
converts,  as  they  came  in  one  by  one,  found  themselves 
in  a  church  that  was  essentially  foreign  in  its  leader- 
ship. The  missionaries — remote  from  their  own 
country,  living  among  people  of  different  races,  lan- 
guages, and  social  customs,  and  charged  with  heavy 
responsibilities — of  course  organized  themselves  into 
missions  both  for  fellowship  and  for  the  more  effec- 
tive conduct  of  their  common  work  through  concerted 


170  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

counsel  and  action.  These  missions  quickly  acquired 
solidarity  and  influence,  partly  because  they  were  com- 
posed of  highly  trained  men  and  women  who  had  been 
selected  by  their  boards  on  account  of  superior  edu- 
cation, ability,  and  devotion,  and  partly  because  their 
members  were  the  founders  and  superintendents  of 
the  mission  work  during  its  earlier  stages.  Thus  they 
became  firmly  established  with  all  the  reins  of  power 
in  their  hands. 

The  Native  Side.  As  the  Church  grows  in  numbers 
and  power,  it  is  equally  natural  that  this  ascendancy  of 
foreigners  should  be  disturbed.  A  distinguished  East 
Indian  minister,  the  Rev.  K.  C.  Chatter jee,  voiced  this 
feeling  when  he  said :  "This  system  [mission  control] 
worked  very  well  as  long  as  the  native  ministers  were 
recruited  from  the  orphanages  or  from  the  illiterate 
and  half-educated  classes  of  people.  They  were  con- 
tent to  be  in  a  subordinate  position.  Now  the  state  of 
things  has  become  different.  The  Church  has  grown  in 
knowledge  and  enlightenment  and  in  western  ideas  of 
working  and  governing.  There  are  several  graduates 
in  the  Church  of  recognized  universities.  Some  of 
these  are  gifted  young  men  of  fine  Christian  charac- 
ter and  anxious  to  do  missionary  work.  They  ought 
not  to  be  put  in  a  subordinate  position.  As  they  have 
the  same  educational  qualifications  and  training  as  the 
foreign  missionaries,  they  ought  to  have  the  same  status 
and  to  be  allowed  to  vote  in  all  mission  matters.  In 
other  words,  they  ought  to  be  made  full  members  of 
the  mission." 


SOCIAL  SERVICE  AND  SELF-GOVERNMENT      171 

Facing  the  Situation.  Missionaries  keenly  feel  this 
difficulty.  They  unhesitatingly  declare  that  such  men 
are  their  equals  in  ability  and  culture,  and  that  they 
have  greater  influence  over  their  own  people  than  any 
foreigner  can  possibly  have.  All  must  see  that  since  an 
essential  element  in  the  aim  of  the  missionary  enter- 
prise is  the  establishment  of  a  self-governing  Church, 
alien  bodies  must  transfer  control  to  the  Church  before 
this  aim  can  be  realized. 

Ecclesiastical  Connection.  How  should  the 
Churches  in  the  mission  field  be  related  to  the  Churches 
in  Europe  and  America?  Should  they  be  integral  parts 
of  the  European  and  American  denominations  whose 
missionaries  founded  them?  Or  should  they  become 
independent  as  soon  as  possible?  This  question  has 
been  warmly  debated  in  many  mission  fields  and  in 
many  ecclesiastical  assemblages  in  America.  A  de- 
nomination in  the  United  States  is  naturally  proud  of 
its  churches  in  Asia  and  Africa;  churches  that  it  re- 
gards as  the  fruit  of  its  gifts  and  prayers  and  labors; 
and  naturally  it  wants  to  keep  them.  But  should  the 
churches  of  India,  Persia,  and  China  be  appendages  of 
a  foreign  Church  ten  thousand  miles  away? 

We  may  be  guided  to  a  right  policy  here  by  turning 
the  question  upon  ourselves.  The  first  churches  in  the 
American  colonies  were  offshoots  of  British  and  Con- 
tinental Churches ;  but  how  long  were  our  fathers  will- 
ing to  have  that  subordination  continued?  Did  they 
not  speedily  insist  upon  their  right  to  religious  inde- 
pendence as  well  as  civil  independence?  To-day,  we 


172  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

honor  and  love  our  mother  Churches  in  Europe,  but 
we  would  never  dream  of  allowing  them  to  control  us. 
It  is  true  ttyat  there  is  no  difference  of  race;  but  any 
intimation  that  a  difference  of  this  kind  should  affect 
our  present  problem  is  highly  offensive  to  the  Chris- 
tians in  the  mission  field,  who  feel  in  precisely  the  same 
way  in  proportion  as  they  grow  in  numbers  and  intel- 
ligence. Japan,  Korea,  India,  China,  Mexico,  Brazil, 
and  several  other  lands  already  have  independent 
Churches,  and  the  number  is  increasing.  These 
Churches  are  developing  a  strong  nationalistic  feeling, 
a  conviction  that  the  people  should  be  independent  of 
foreign  control  in  religion  as  well  as  in  government. 
Present  indications  point  to  national  Churches,  and 
we  should  be  glad  that  they  do. 

Hard  Readjustments.  A  serious  obstacle  lies  in  the 
natural  disposition  of  man,  from  which  even  grace  does 
not  emancipate,  to  hold  on  to  power  as  long  as  pos- 
sible. It  is  notoriously  difficult  for  a  parent  to  realize 
that  his  son  is  growing  to  manhood  and  is  entitled  to 
settle  some  questions  for  himself.  This  is  even  more 
apt  to  be  true  of  western  Christians  in  dealing  with 
Christians  of  a  different  race  who  never  will  see  some 
things  as  we  see  them  nor  be  disposed  to  do  some 
things  as  we  have  always  done  them.  The  white  man 
can  advocate  with  unction  the  duties  of  self-support, 
self -propagation,  and  social  service,  for  they  seem  to 
lighten  his  load.  But  it  is  less  easy  for  him  to  advo- 
cate self-government,  for  it  calls  upon  him  to  surrender 
power  which  he  has  been  accustomed  to  exercise  and 


SOCIAL  SERVICE  AND  SELF-GOVERNMENT      173 

which  he  is  disposed  to  keep.  It  is  hard  in  such  circum- 
stances to  pursue  a  wise  course  between  the  extremes 
of  prematurely  hastening  and  unduly  retarding  the 
independence  of  the  native  Church.  We  must  balance 
our  own  judgment  with  the  judgment  of  the  native 
Christians  themselves  and  with  our  belief  in  the  com- 
mon guidance  of  the  Spirit  of  God. 

Liberty  Trains  for  Liberty.  The  rather  extraor- 
dinary objection  has  been  urged  that  if  the  native 
Church  becomes  self-supporting  and  self-governing, 
the  home  Church  cannot  control  it.  But  why  should 
the  home  Church  control  it  ?  Because  the  native  breth- 
ren are  not  fitted  for  independence?  When  will  they 
be,  if  they  are  not  given  a  chance  to  learn?  Shall  we 
wait  until  they  equal  American  churches  in  stability? 
Will  a  century  of  dependence  develop  those  qualities 
which  wise  self-government  requires?  Some  essen- 
tial qualities  of  character  can  be  developed  only  by  the 
exercise  of  autonomy.  "It  is  liberty  alone,"  said 
Gladstone,  "which  fits  men  for  liberty."  This  prop- 
osition has  its  bounds;  but  it  is  far  safer  than  the 
counter  doctrine:  "Wait  till  they  are  fit."  The  way 
to  teach  a  child  to  walk  alone  is  not  to  carry  him  until 
he  becomes  a  man,  but  to  let  him  begin  to  toddle  for 
himself  when  he  is  still  young.  He  will  learn  faster 
by  practise  and  tumbles  than  by  lying  in  his  mother's 
arms.  Said  a  west  African  Christian:  "I  have  not 
seen  a  babe  that  has  been  born  about  eight  or  ten 
months  let  down  to  walk  by  himself  without  the  par- 
ent or  some  one  else  holding  him  and  teaching  him 


174  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

how  to  walk;  but  the  mistake  here  is  that  they  hold 
this  babe  [the  churches]  till  the  age  of  forty  years. 
You  know  well  that,  when  a  babe  is  past  three  years  and 
cannot  walk,  he  is  lame." 

Discipline  by  Natives.  Church  discipline  often 
can  be  administered  more  effectively  by  the  officers 
of  a  local  church  than  by  a  foreigner.  A  missionary 
wrote  from  northern  Siam:  "Last  week  there  came 
a  report  that  one  of  our  women  had  been  gambling  in 
the  market.  I  had  already  been  talking  up  the  matter 
of  self-government,  and  now  I  said  to  the  Laos  elders : 
'You  four  men  take  up  and  settle  this  case.'  Well, 
they  took  it  up,  and  I  was  mightily  pleased  with  the 
patience,  kindliness,  and  skill  they  showed  in  bringing 
the  woman  to  a  full  confession  and  expression  of 
sorrow  without  citing  witnesses.  Then,  without  .pass- 
ing judgment  or  making  a  record,  they  exhorted  her 
to  make  a  public  confession  and  renew  her  covenant 
before  the  church  and  watch  herself  carefully  ever 
afterwards,  and  assured  her  of  their  and  the  disciples' 
prayers  and  help.  I  said  to  myself :  'These  men  can  do 
this  kind  of  thing  better  without  me  and  the  sooner 
I  drop  it  the  better.'  " 

The  Fit  Time.  When,  however,  the  theory  is  agreed 
to,  the  problem  is  by  no  means  solved.  Of  course 
native  churches  should  be  self-governing  in  time;  but 
when  is  that  time?  There  is  room  for  wide  difference 
of  opinion  as  to  whether  a  particular  church  has 
attained  that  maturity  of  judgment  which  qualifies  it 
to  manage  its  own  affairs.  Independence  may  come 


SOCIAL  SERVICE  AND  SELF-GOVERNMENT      175 

before  the  church  is  fitted  for  it.  But  are  we  to  be  the 
final  judges  of  fitness?  Protestantism  holds  that  any 
considerable  body  of  believers  has  the  right  to  decide 
for  itself  whether  or  not  it  should  be  dependent  upon 
others.  Shall  we  deny  to  the  churches  of  Asia  a  prin- 
ciple which  we  cherish  as  fundamental?  We  can  give 
them  the  benefit  of  our  experience  without  keeping 
them  perpetually  in  leading-strings.  They  need  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  restraint  and  counsel;  but  these  are 
most  effective  when  they  are  moral  rather  than  author- 
itative. 

The  churches  in  the  mission  field  are  disposed  to  say 
something  on  this  subject  themselves.  While  some 
people  are  so  lacking  in  independent  vigor  or  are  so 
accustomed  to  be  dominated  by  foreigners  that  they 
look  up  to  the  missionary  as  a  superior  being  and  are 
docile  under  his  leadership,  others,  notably  the  Japa- 
nese, Chinese,  and  East  Indians,  are  of  a  more  virile 
and  haughty  type.  The  attitude  of  a  church  toward 
the  mission  is  naturally  influenced  by  this  racial 
spirit.  Its  members  are  still  Orientals,  and  share,  to 
some  extent  at  least,  the  irritation  of  proud  and  ancient 
races  as  they  see  the  white  man  everywhere  striving 
for  the  ascendancy. 

An  eminent  Japanese  Christian,  Mr.  Uemura  of 
Tokyo,  writes :  "Apart  from  Christ  and  the  Spirit, 
Japanese  Christianity  has  no  need  to  rely  on  any  one 
whatever.  Sufficient  unto  itself,  resolved  to  stand 
alone,  it  must  advance  along  the  whole  line  toward 
the  realization  of  this  ideal.  ...  To  depend  upon  the 


176  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

pockets  of  foreigners  for  money  to  pay  the  bills  is  not 
a  situation  which  ought  to  satisfy  the  moral  sense  of 
Japanese  Christians.  Likewise  in  the  realm  of  relig- 
ious thought,  is  it  not  shameful  to  accept  opinions 
ready-made,  relying  on  the  experience  of  others  in- 
stead of  one's  own?  Those  of  us  who  are  earnestly 
insisting  on  the  independence  of  the  Church  in  our 
country  are  not  moved  by  narrow  nationalistic  ideas. 
.  .  .  We  are  moved  by  the  positive  power  of  a  great 
ideal.  ...  Is  it  not  a  great  duty  that  we  owe  to  God 
and  to  mankind  to  develop  the  religious  talent  of  our 
people  and  to  contribute  our  share  to  the  religious  ideas 
of  the  world?"  This  is  more  advanced  ground  than 
most  of  the  churches  in  the  mission  field  are  ready  to 
take  under  present  conditions,  but  it  indicates  a  goal 
which  some  of  them  are  boldly  seeking. 

A  Legitimate  Result.  The  growth  of  the  churches 
in  the  mission  field  is  the  fruition  of  the  toils  and  pray- 
ers of  missionaries  and  their  supporters  in  the  home 
lands.  But  with  the  development  of  these  churches 
come  new  and  difficult  problems.  We  should  consider 
them,  not  simply  because  they  are  forced  upon  us,  but 
because  we  frankly  recognize  their  justice.  We  are 
not  dealing  with  men  of  our  own  race,  whose  customs 
and  ways  of  thinking  we  understand,  but  with  men  of 
different  points  of  view,  whose  hereditary  influences 
are  far  removed  from  ours  and  whose  minds  we  cannot 
easily  comprehend.  It  is  inevitable  in  these  circum- 
stances that  occasional  differences  of  opinion  should 
develop.  It  is  a  new  experience  for  the  white  man,  who 


SOCIAL  SERVICE  AND  SELF-GOVERNMENT      177 

has  been  accustomed  to  feel  that  he  represents  superior 
intelligence,  to  be  asked  to  give  precedence  to  men  of  a 
race  that  he  was  brought  up  to  regard  as  inferior.  A 
teacher  knows  that  his  pupils  must  ultimately  supplant 
him,  but  he  is  not  apt  to  agree  with  them  as  to  time 
and  circumstance.  The  missionaries  who  are  gladly 
adapting  themselves  to  the  conditions  of  the  new  era 
are  manifesting  true  Christian  grace. 

The  situation  that  we  are  facing  is  a  natural  outcome 
of  those  truths  which  we  have  long  sought  to  incul- 
cate. We  like  to  say  that  the  knowledge  of  the  gospel 
awakens  new  life.  Why  then  should  we  be  surprised 
that  this  knowledge  is  doing  in  mission  lands  what  it  is 
our  boast  that  it  did  in  Europe  and  America,  and  why 
should  we  be  afraid  of  the  spirit  which  we  have 
invoked?  It  is  the  people  of  spirit  that  are  worth  the 
most.  When  our  rights  appear  to  be  jeopardized,  let 
us  not  harbor  a  sense  of  injury  or  feel  that  we  must 
resent  an  infringement  upon  our  "prerogatives."  It 
would  be  better  to  go  to  the  other  extreme  and  say  that 
we  have  no  rights  in  non-Christian  lands  except  the 
right  of  serving  our  brethren  there. 

If  the  reader  finds  the  statements  in  this  chapter 
rather  hard  reading,  I  can  assure  him  that  boards  and 
missionaries  find  them  much  harder  practising.  The 
time  has  come  when  the  home  Church  as  well  as  the 
missionary  body  should  give  more  careful  study  to 
these  questions. 

Not  "Agents"  and  "Helpers."  Two  phrases  have 
been  current  in  missionary  literature  which  illustrate 


178  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

the  difficulty  of  the  situation.  They  are  "native 
agents"  and  "native  helpers."  "Agents  and  helpers" 
of  whom?  Foreigners,  of  course.  Precisely;  and  yet 
these  natives  belong  to  proud  and  sensitive  races  and 
are  not  infrequently  our  equals.  We  have  now  come 
to  the  point  where  we  should  abandon  this  terminology 
and  the  attitude  of  mind  of  which  it  is  the  expression. 
Native  ministers,  evangelists,  and  teachers  are  not  our 
"agents"  or  "helpers"  but  our  coworkers  and  our 

brethren. 
i 

These  men  stand  in  a  hard  place.  They  do  not  have 
the  moral  and  financial  support  which  the  mission- 
ary receives.  No  great  body  in  other  lands  holds  up 
their  hands.  They  have,  as  a  rule,  only  the  barest  neces- 
sities of  physical  life  and  few  if  any  of  its  comforts. 
They,  more  than  the  missionary,  bear  the  brunt  of 
opposition  from  angry  priests  and  officials.  Some  of 
these  men  of  God  have  been  disowned  by  their  families, 
deprived  of  their  property,  scourged,  imprisoned,  and 
killed.  But  they  have  manifested  a  courage  and  fidelity 
which  should  deeply  move  us.  If  the  story  of  hundreds 
of  them  could  be  written,  it  would  be  one  of  the  most 
inspiring  records  in  the  development  of  the  Church  of 
God.  Making  all  due  allowance  for  those  who  have 
been  actuated  by  improper  motives  or  who  have  shown 
themselves  incompetent,  the  fact  remains  that  multi- 
tudes have  been  loyal,  humble,  and  loving  servants  of 
God.  In  my  conferences  with  them  in  many  fields 
they  discussed  large  questions  with  intelligence,  cour- 
tesy, and  dignity.  Sound  opinions  were  expressed  and 


SOCIAL  SERVICE  AND   SELF-GOVERNMENT     17& 

ably  advocated.     We  shall  make  no  mistake  in  trust- 
ing and  honoring  these  men. 

Teaching  Right  Standards.  The  effort  to  develop 
these  essential  characteristics  involves  several  affiliated 
forms  of  work.  We  cannot  enlarge  upon  these  within 
the  limits  of  this  book.  We  can  refer  only  briefly  to 
one  of  them.  How  can  churches  be  made  self- 
propagating,  self-supporting,  social-serving  and  self- 
governing  unless  their  own  leaders  are  imbued  with 
these  ideals  and  are  fitted  to  carry  them  into  effect? 
To  this  end,  we  must  not  only  preach  the  whole  gospel 
in  all  its  wide-reaching  significance  and  application, 
but  we  must  have  educational  institutions  in  which  to 
train  them.  Boys  and  girls  must  be  given  the  right 
trend  of  mind  early  in  their  lives.  Secular  govern- 
ment schools,  usually  non-Christian  and  sometimes 
antichristian,  will  not  and  cannot  produce  consecrated 
ministers,  evangelists,  teachers,  physicians,  nurses,  and 
social  workers  for  the  Church. 

Providing  the  Training  Institutions.  This  leads  us 
to  the  large  question  of  educational  missions  as  one  of 
the  vital  necessities  of  the  missionary  enterprise.  Mis- 
sion schools  serve  other  important  ends,  but  qualified 
leadership  for  the  church  is  the  chief  one.  Pioneer 
evangelistic  work  often  can  be  done  by  untrained 
Christians,  but  congregations  and  schools  require  edu- 
cated men  and  women,  and  we  must  have  colleges  to 
develop  them.  One  of  the  most  urgent  needs  of  the 
work  to-day  therefore  is  a  better  equipment  of  the 


180  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

institutions  on  which  we  depend  for  the  training  of 
native  leaders  of  all  kinds.  The  Church  could  not  live 
if  it  did  not  have  institutions  of  this  kind  for  the  train- 
ing of  its  leaders.  Those  who  undervalue  educational 
work  in  missions  fail  to  realize  that  the  surest  way  to 
keep  a  church  forever  dependent  is  to  fail  to  provide 
it  with  competent  native  leadership. 

This  is  the  work  of  the  home  churches  through  the 
boards.  Native  churches  can  and  should  assume  in- 
creasing responsibility  for  direct  evangelization.  They 
can  and  they  do  support  a  large  majority  of  the  pri- 
mary schools  which  give  elementary  education  to  boys 
and  girls.  But  they  cannot  for  a  long  time  to  come 
provide  plant,  equipment,  and  support  for  institutions 
of  higher  grade,  of  which  there  are  now  on  the  mission 
field  86  colleges  and  universities,  1714  boarding  and 
high  schools,  in  medical  schools  and  classes,  98 
schools  and  classes  for  nurses,  and  522  theological  and 
normal  schools  and  training  classes.  These  institutions 
represent  a  splendid  and  indispensable  phase  of  foreign 
mission  work.  Very  few  of  them  possess  adequate 
equipment,  and  the  urgent  calls  of  the  mission  boards 
in  their  behalf  should  meet  with  generous  response. 

Recruiting  the  Training  Force.  Equally  urgent  is 
the  need  of  consecrated  leaders  from  America  for  the 
faculties.  Each  institution  requires  at  least  one  or 
two,  and  the  larger  schools  and  colleges  several,  for- 
eign teachers  in  addition  to  the  native  staff.  Here  is 
an  opportunity  for  the  finest  type  of  American  Chris- 
tian character  and  culture,  for  young  men  and  women 


SOCIAL  SERVICE  AND   SELF-GOVERNMENT     181 

of  high  intellectual  training,  wide  outlook,  consecrated 
hearts,  and  resolute  faith.  To  mold  the  coming 
leaders  of  the  rising  churches  in  non-Christian  lands 
is  a  privilege  that  an  angel  might  covet.  May  it  not  be 
that  to  some  readers  of  these  pages  the  Holy  Ghost  is 
saying,  as  he  did  to  the  little  church  at  Antioch : 
"Separate  me  Barnabas  and  Saul  for  the  work  where- 
unto  I  have  called  them."  1 
JActs  xiii.  2. 


VIII 

RELATION  TO  MISSIONS  AND  WESTERN 
CHURCHES 

The  subject  of  this  chapter  opens  into  wide  areas, 
far  too  wide  to  be  traversed  in  this  book.  The  region 
is  comparatively  little  known  and  therefore  has  not 
received  that  consideration  which  its  importance  de- 
mands. Conditions  are  now  developing  which  make  it 
one  of  the  most  urgent  questions  of  mission  policies 
and  methods.  The  boards  are  studying  it  with  a  care 
not  unmingled  with  anxiety,  and  the  home  churches 
should  familiarize  themselves  at  least  with  its  main 
features.  The  problem  of  relationship  has  already  be- 
come acute  in  some  lands,  and  it  will  sooner  or  later 
emerge  in  all,  unless  our  work  is  to  fail.  Absence  of 
the  problem  of  the  Church  in  the  mission  field  would 
mean  absence  of  the  Church,  or  at  least  of  one  that  is 
good  for  anything.  The  problem  grows  out  of  success,, 
not  out  of  failure. 

The  Situation  Surveyed 

We  can  consider  here  only  a  few  of  the  questions 
involved,  and  these  merely  in  outline. 

Possible  Solutions.  What  shall  be  the  relation  of 
foreign  missionaries  to  a  self-governing  native  Church? 
Shall  they  take  native  leaders  into  the  foreign  mis- 

183 


184  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

sion?  Or  shall  they  dissolve  their  organization  and 
enter  the  native  Church?  Or  shall  they  continue  their 
separate  organization,  and  work  independently  of  the 
Church,  although  in  sympathetic  fellowship  with  it? 
Or  shall  they  form  some  cooperative  relationship  by 
which  the  two  bodies  shall  maintain  their  respective 
identities,  but  work  together? 

The  first  of  these  alternatives — to  bring  natives  into 
the  mission — is  clearly  impracticable,  as  it  would  place 
them  still  more  completely  under  the  control  of  for- 
eigners, separate  them  from  their  own  people,  exalt  and 
perpetuate  an  organization  that  ought  to  be  regarded  as 
a  temporary  expedient,  and  thus  jeopardize  one  of  the 
essential  elements  in  the  missionary  aim,  namely,  to 
establish  a  native  Church  that  shall  have  ultimate 
supremacy.  The  remedy  for  the  just  complaint  of 
Dr.  Chatterjee1  is,  not  to  strengthen  the  mission  by 
adding  a  few  natives  to  it,  but  to  strengthen  the  Church 
by  giving  it  more  of  the  power  that  has  hitherto  been 
centralized  in  the  mission. 

Self-Support  Limited.  The  other  questions  are  more 
difficult  than  they  appear  to  be.  When  we  say  that  a 
church  is  self-supporting,  we  ordinarily  mean  its  abil- 
ity to  maintain  its  own  services  and  pay  its  ministers. 
Elementary  schools  also  are  usually  supported  locally 
in  such  circumstances.  But  this  is  not  all  of  Christian 
work  in  a  given  land.  There  must  be  academies,  col- 
leges, and  several  kinds  of  professional  schools.  More- 
over, as  we  noted  in  another  chapter,  in  a  country 

'See  page  170. 


RELATION  TO  MISSIONS  AND  CHURCHES       185 

where  there  is  no  sense  of  responsibility  for  the  care 
of  the  dependent  and  defective  classes,  the  missionary 
enterprise  must  include  hospitals  and  institutions  for  the 
blind,  insane,  deaf-mutes,  orphans,  lepers,  and  fallen 
women.  A  native  staff  must  be  trained  for  these  also. 
Medical  colleges  and  nurses'  training  schools  partic- 
ularly are  required. 

Administering  Institutional  Funds.  All  these  estab- 
lishments call  for  expensive  plants,  and  the  cost  of 
maintenance  is  heavy  even  after  making  allowance  for 
fees  and  gifts  on  the  field.  Colleges,  hospitals,  and 
asylums  are  not  self-supporting  in  America  but  are 
obliged  to  depend  largely  upon  donations.  America 
has  a  Christian  constituency  from  which  such  dona- 
tions can  be  sought;  but  it  will  be  a  long  time  before 
the  churches  of  Asia,  Africa,  and  Latin  America  can 
provide  the  large  sums  that  are  needed.  Meantime, 
the  millions  of  dollars  that  are  raised  in  Europe  and 
America  for  these  institutions  must  be  locally  managed 
by  the  missionaries,  whose  number  in  most  fields  in- 
cludes men  who  have  special  qualifications  in  business 
matters.  Some  boards  send  out  carefully  selected  lay- 
men for  this  purpose.  It  is  clear  that  the  administra- 
tion of  these  great  sums,  under  present  conditions, 
cannot  be  wisely  transferred  to  churches  recruited 
from  the  rude  tribes  of  central  Africa,  the  hill  men 
of  northern  Siam,  or  the  unsophisticated  peasants  of 
Korea.  A  church  may  have  all  the  faith  and  devotion 
that  we  have  described  in  a  preceding  chapter  without 
having  the  training  in  the  use  of  money  that  would 


186  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

make  it  a  prudent  administrator  of  the  monies  sent 
from  abroad.  Is  it  rational  to  expect  that  the  most 
sanctified  Asiatic  Christians,  whose  wages  are  fifteen 
cents  a  day,  could  intelligently  vote  upon  the  use  of 
sixty  thousand  dollars  a  year  of  other  people's  money  ? 
A  mission  board  has  to  be  as  careful  in  handling  the 
trust  funds  committed  to  it  as  a  bank  in  handling  the 
funds  of  depositors.  Any  lack  of  the  most  careful 
business  methods  would  forfeit  the  confidence  of  givers 
and  cut  off  supplies.  A  board  therefore  must  adminis- 
ter this  money  through  local  agents  who  are  not  only 
chosen  for  that  purpose  but  who  are  amenable  to  its 
control  as  a  missionary  is  and  a  native  Christian  is 
not. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  missionaries  retain  in  their 
own  hands  absolute  control  of  the  money  that  is  neces- 
sary for  the  large  and  varied  work,  their  power  is  apt 
to  be  considered  by  the  native  Christians  as  the  power 
of  money;  and  we  in  America,  who  resent  the  attempt 
of  any  one  to  rule  us  because  he  has  more  money  than 
we  have,  can  understand  how  the  Christians  feel.  It 
will  be  readily  understood  that  questions  of  the  most 
perplexing  character  are  here  involved. 

Efforts  at  Adjustment.  Boards  and  missions  are 
trying  to  solve  the  problem  by  sharing  administrative 
responsibility  with  the  native  Church  wherever  it  is 
fitted  to  assume  such  responsibility.  This  seems  to  be 
an  easy  solution.  But  who  is  to  be  the  judge  of  such 
fitness,  the  foreigner  or  the  native?  Aye,  there's  the 
rub.  The  trend  of  practise  is  indicated  by  the  follow- 


RELATION  TO  MISSIONS  AND  CHURCHES       18? 

ing  extract  from  a  deliverance  of  one  mission  board: 
"The  time  has  come  in  some  of  the  missions,  and  it  is 
rapidly  coming  in  others,  when  the  native  churches, 
should  be  given  a  larger  share  of  privilege  and  respon- 
sibility in  the  conduct  and  support  of  evangelistic  work, 
the  selection  of  evangelists,  etc,,  than  now  exists  in 
many  places;  and  consideration  should  be  given  to  the 
inclusion  of  natives  in  the  local  managing  boards  of 
some  educational  institutions.  .  .  .  The  board  is  cor- 
dially prepared  to  approve  the  appointment  of  repre- 
sentative advisory  committees  of  Christians  in  each 
station  to  share  in  estimating  and  administering  funds 
wherever  there  is  a  local  church  regularly  organized 
with  an  ordained  pastor  on  a  self-supporting  basis.  The 
board  suggests  that  such  representatives  be  chosen,  not 
by  the  station  or  mission,  but  by  the  properly  author- 
ized body  of  the  churches,  and  that  the  proportion  of 
such  representatives  be  the  proportion  which  the  con- 
tributions of  the  churches  sustain  to  the  contributions 
of  the  board  and  the  mission." 

It  will  help  us  here  if  we  remind  ourselves  again  that 
the  ultimate  object  of  the  foreign  missionary  enter- 
prise is  to  establish  the  Church,  and  that  this  aim 
should  be  a  definite  factor  in  the  solution  of  our  prob- 
lems. We  should  hold  resolutely  in  view  the  prin- 
ciple that  the  mission  should  be  a  temporary  and  dimin- 
ishingly  authoritative  body,  and  that  the  Church  should 
be  the  permanent  and  increasingly  authoritative  body. 
Even  though  the  mission  remains  a  century  or  more, 
as  it  must  in  some  lands,  this  fundamental  distinction 


188  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

should  not  be  overlooked.  A  policy  which  centers 
all  power  in  foreign  lands  until  aggressive  native 
churches  compel  it  to  let  go  is  radically  unsound. 

It  would  be  a  help  to  a  mission  board  to  know  how 
its  supporters  in  the  home  churches  feel  on  this  sub- 
ject. To  what  extent  do  the  readers  of  these  pages 
desire  their  mission  boards,  which  are  amenable  to  their 
legal  and  ecclesiastical  control,  to  retain  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  money  which  they  give;  and  to  what 
extent  are  they  willing  to  release  the  boards  from  re- 
sponsibility by  having  them  turn  over  the  money  to 
bodies  of  Asiatic  and  African  Christians  who  are  not 
amenable  to  their  control?  Granting  that  this  should 
be  done  under  certain  conditions,  what  are  those  con- 
ditions ? 

Question  of  Creed  and  Polity.  What  shall  be  the 
creed  and  polity  of  the  native  Church  ?  How  far  shall 
the  missionary  seek  to  shape  them  to  his  own  ideas? 
These  questions  are  difficult  and  delicate.  The  mis- 
sionary from  the  West,  trained  in  the  tenets  of  a  par- 
ticular denomination,  born  and  bred  to  regard  its 
doctrinal  statements  and  form  of  government  as  most 
in  accord  with  the  Word  of  God,  is  apt  to  feel  that 
they  should  be  repeated  on  the  foreign  field. 

But  should  they?  Is  it  our  object  to  carry  molds  or 
to  plant  seed?  We  must  recognize  the  right  of  each 
autonomous  body  of  Christians  to  determine  some 
things  for  itself.  We  do  not  want  the  churches  in  the 
mission  fields  to  be  our  theological  phonographs, 
mechanically  repeating  what  we  speak  into  them.  We 


CHINESE  WORKERS  IN  CITY  EVANGELIZATION 
ORDAINED  ZULU  PASTORS 


RELATION  TO  MISSIONS  AND  CHURCHES       189 

cannot,  indeed,  ignore  the  risks  that  are  involved. 
There  is  sometimes  ground  for  anxiety.  Will  the 
rising  churches  on  the  mission  field  be  soundly  evan- 
gelical ?  God  grant  that  they  may  be.  But  who  is  to  be 
the  judge  of  soundness?  And  in  respect  of  undoubted 
doctrines,  to  what  extent  should  we  impose  our  west- 
ern terminology  upon  eastern  churches?  We  should 
remember  that,  in  the  course  of  nearly  two  thousand 
years,  external  Christianity  has  taken  on  some  of  the 
characteristics  of  the  white  races,  and  that  we  who 
have  inherited  these  characteristics  have  more  or  less 
unconsciously  identified  them  with  essentials.  Perhaps 
this  is  one  reason  why  Christianity  is  so  often  called 
by  the  Chinese  "the  foreigner's  religion." 

Our  creeds  were  formed  in  times  of  heated  contro- 
versy, and  their  statements  are  massed  in  such  a  way 
as  to  be  effective  against  the  particular  errors  which 
were  then  prevailing.  The  result  is  that  some  of  these 
creeds  are  impregnable  fortifications  on  sides  from 
which  no  special  attack  is  likely  to  be  made  in  present- 
day  Asia  or  Africa,  while  other  positions,  which  are 
seriously  menaced, 'are  unguarded. 

It  is  difficult  for  us  to  realize  to  what  an  extent  our 
theological  thought  has  been  influenced  by  our  western 
environment  and  the  polemical  struggles  through  which 
we  have  passed.  The  Oriental,  not  having  passed 
through  those  controversies,  knowing  little  and  caring 
less  about  them,  and  having  other  controversies  of  his 
own,  may  not  find  our  forms  exactly  suited  to  him.  It 
seems  not  only  just  to  Asiatic  Christians  but  in  the  in- 


190  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

terest  of  evangelical  truth  that  the  churches  in  the  mis- 
sion field  should  be  allowed  to  frame  their  creeds  as  we 
have  been  allowed  to  frame  ours. 

Assumptions  to  Avoid.  Some  thoughtful  men  fear 
that  many  errors  may  find  lodgment  in  the  native 
Qfurches  unless  the  older  and  wiser  Churches  of  the 
West  retain  control.  This  fear  may  have  justification 
in  some  places.  I  would  not  minimize  the  gravity  of 
the  question  or  the  perils  of  premature  independence. 

Nevertheless,  I  look  upon  the  growing  power  and 
independence  of  the  churches  in  the  mission  field,  not 
indeed  without  some  anxiety,  and  yet,  on  the  whole, 
with  gratification  and  devout  thanksgiving  to  God. 
They  have  made  mistakes,  and  doubtless  they  will  make 
more.  The  churches  to  which  St.  Paul  wrote  in  the 
first  century  made  them,  and  so  have  the  churches  in 
Europe  and  America.  They  may  promulgate  some 
doctrines  and  interpretations  of  the  Bible  which  we 
regard  as  unsound ;  but  are  there  no  ministers  and  lay- 
men in  America  who  are  doing  this  ?  Are  our  western 
churches  so  uniformly  free  from  error  that  we  are 
willing  to  make  them  ideals  which  the  churches  in  the 
mission  field  should  imitate?  When  we  remember 
all  the  vagaries  and  heresies  that  thrive  like  weeds  in 
the  western  mind,  we  may  feel  that  it  is  better  to  recog- 
nize as  soon  as  possible  the  autonomy  of  the  churches 
in  the  mission  field  in  the  hope  that  they  will  not  perpet- 
uate our  mistakes  but  will  form  a  better  type  of  Chris- 
tianity than  we  have  presented  to  them. 

We  should  avoid   four   fundamental  assumptions; 


RELATION  TO  MISSIONS  AND  CHURCHES       191 

first,  that  we  need  to  be  afraid  of  our  avowed  aim 
to  establish  the  Church;  second,  that  the  churches  in 
Asia  and  Africa  must  be  conformed  to  the  churches  in 
Europe  and  America ;  third,  that  we  are  responsible  for 
all  the  future  mistakes  of  a  Church  which  we  have 
once  founded;  fourth,  that  Christ  who  "purchased"1 
the  Church  and  who  is  its  Head2  cannot  be  trusted  to 
guide  it. 

Call  for  Larger  Faith.  "Is  there  never  to  be  a 
period,"  exclaimed  the  Rev.  F.  F.  Ellinwood,  "when 
the  Christianity  which  we  plant  shall  be  able  with  God's 
help  to  stand  alone?  Is  it  like  some  sickly  plant  that 
must  forever  be  tied  up  to  a  stick?  We  must  assume 
that  Christ  is  able  to  care  for  his  Church  after  we  have 
planted  it  and  duly  nurtured  it.  We  cannot  be  for- 
ever responsible  for  the  orthodoxy  of  Japan.  We  must 
leave  the  Japanese  Church  under  the  direction  of  God's 
omnipotent  Spirit  to  work  out  its  own  religious  life. 
We  cannot  proceed  on  any  other  principle." 

Let  us  have  faith  in  our  brethren  and  faith  in  God. 
When  Christ  said  that  he  would  be  with  his  disciples 
always,  he  meant  his  disciples  in  Asia  and  Africa  as 
well  as  in  Europe  and  America.  The  operations  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  are  not  confined  to  the  white  races.  Are 
we  to  take  no  account  of  his  guidance?  He  is  still  in 
the  world  and  will  not  forsake  his  own.  We  should 
plant  in  non-Christian  lands  the  fundamental  principles 
of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  then  give  the  native 
Church  reasonable  freedom  to  make  some  adaptations 

'Acts  xx.  28.  2Col.  i.  18. 


192  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

for  itself.  If,  in  the  exercise  of  that  freedom,  it  does 
some  things  that  we  deprecate,  let  us  not  be  frightened 
or  imagine  that  our  work  has  been  in  vain.  Some  of 
the  acts  which  impress  us  as  wrong  may  not  be  so 
wrong  in  themselves  as  we  imagine,  but  simply  due  to 
different  ways  of  serving  the  same  purpose.  The  Bible 
was  written  by  Asiatics  and  in  an  Asiatic  language. 
Christ  himself  was  an  Asiatic.  Perhaps  we  of  the 
West  have  not  fully  understood  that  Asiatic  Bible,  and 
it  may  be  that,  by  the  guidance  of  God's  Spirit  within 
the  rising  churches  of  Asia  and  Africa,  a  more  perfect 
interpretation  of  Christ  may  be  made  known  to  the 

world. 

Principles  Appearing 

Rule  of  the  People.  In  church  government  our 
American  ideas  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  people  have 
given  us,  in  both  Church  and  state,  forms  of  govern- 
ment that  have  grown  out  of  long  emphasis  upon  the 
doctrine  that  "all  men  are  created  free  and  equal." 
Accordingly  our  church  organizations  are  either  demo- 
cratic or  representative,  the  people  being  supreme  in 
both  cases. 

"When  these  forms  are  transplanted  to  lands  that 
have  never  had  such  training  in  equality  of  human 
rights,  perplexities  quickly  develop.  As  a  matter  of 
fact  neither  the  democratic  nor  the  representative  form 
of  church  organization  is  in  unmodified  operation  on 
the  average  mission  field,  for  the  reason  that  the  typical 
missionary,  whatever  his  title,  necessarily  has  exercised 
the  functions  of  a  superintendent  or  bishop.  For  this 


RELATION  TO  MISSIONS  AND  CHURCHES       193 

reason  it  is  difficult  to  make  an  accurate  list  of  inde- 
pendent churches.. 

The  outstanding  ones  are  few.  Perhaps  the  most 
conspicuous  is  The  Church  of  Christ  in  Japan,  which 
is  exclusively  Japanese  in  organization  and  control. 
This  is  partly  because  of  the  ambitious  and  independent 
temperament  of  the  Japanese;  partly  because  many  of 
the  Christians  are  of  the  Samurai,  the  old  knightly 
class  which  has  given  Japan  the  majority  of  its  army 
and  navy  officers  and  its  leaders  in  politics  and  the 
learned  professions.  While  approximately  one  person 
in  every  thousand  of  the  population  is  a  Christian,  one 
in  every  hundred  of  the  educated  classes  is  a  Christian, 
and  the  membership  of  the  churches  includes  prominent 
lawyers,  editors  of  leading  journals,  members  of  the 
imperial  diet,  and  men  of  high  military  and  naval  rank. 
It  was  to  be  expected  that  the  relation  of  the  Church  to 
the  foreign  missions  would  first  become  acute  among 
a  people  of  this  kind.1 

As  a  rule,  however,  the  churches  in  the  mission  field 
are  in  a  period  of  transition,  gradually  moving  out  of 
the  era  of  foreign  control  into  the  era  of  native  control. 
Even  where  the  theory  of  church  government  or  mis- 
sion policy  of  a  given  communion  places  all  power 
in  the  hands  of  the  Church  as  distinguished  from  an 
organized  mission,  the  individual  missionaries  are 
usually  members  of  the  churches  on  the  field  and  per- 


aSee  the  author's  article,  "The  Relation  of  Church  and  Mission 
in  Japan,"   in   the  International  Review  of  Missions,  October, 


194  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

sonally  dominate  their  policies  and  methods  by  sheer 
weight  of  superior  training  and  ability.  Such  a  system 
is  impossible  of  continuance  much  longer.  No  sound 
Scriptural  theory  of  the  Church  recognizes  the  domina- 
tion of  believers  in  one  country  by  resident  aliens  who 
preserve  their  separate  racial  organization  and  connec- 
tions and  who  are  responsible  for  their  acts  to  a  board 
and  Church  in  another  country. 

A  New  Principle.  What  kind  of  domination  will 
be  substituted  remains  to  be  seen.  Government  by 
the  people,  either  directly  or  through  representatives 
whom  they  choose  and  hold  to  accountability,  is  not 
easily  put  into  smooth  operation  in  nations  that  have 
been  accustomed  for  two  or  three  thousand  years  to 
the  rule  of  kings  by  divine  right  and  of  the  lesser 
officials  whom  the  kings  appoint.  The  Chinese  have 
long  exercised  a  larger  degree  of  self-government  than 
any  other  non-Christian  people;  but  even  in  China 
•democracy  and  monarchy  were  inextricably  mixed — 
villages  governed  by  elders,  provinces  ruled  by  officials 
who,  although  gaining  position  through  competitive 
•examinations,  wielded  despotic  power,  and  the  nation 
by  an  emperor  who  was  called  "the  Son  of  Heaven." 
Republicanism  has  now  been  adopted  as  the  form  of 
government;  but  the  effort  to  secure  efficient  provincial 
and  national  assemblies  of  representatives  elected  by 
the  people  has  not  been  successful  thus  far,  and  Presi- 
dent Yuan  Shih-kai  has  been  compelled  to  assume  the 
powers  of  a  virtual  dictator  in  order  to  keep  the  Re- 
public from  falling  to  pieces.  The  Chinese  will 


UNIVERSITY   OF   NANKING  IN   WHICH   SEVEN 
DENOMINATIONS  ARE  COOPERATING 

Science  Building 
Faculty  of  Language  School 


RELATION  TO  MISSIONS  AND  CHURCHES       195 

undoubtedly  work  out  the  problem,  but  time  will  be 
required  to  do  it. 

These  political  ideas  interact  with  ecclesiastical  ideas. 
No  one  can  yet  tell  just  what  form  of  church  polity  the 
churches  in  the  mission  field  will  ultimately  settle  upon, 
or  just  how  native  characteristics  of  life  and  thought 
will  affect  the  rising  churches  in  non-Christian  lands. 
Already  we  can  observe  the  influence  of  inherited 
ideas  and  national  traits  to  which  we  referred  in  chap- 
ter IV.  Doubtless  Japanese,  Chinese,  East  Indian, 
Persian,  African,  and  Latin  American  types  will  be- 
come as  distinct  as  Scotch,  Welsh,  English,  French, 
German,  Canadian,  and  American  types. 

The  Church  Missionary  Society  sensibly  declared,  in 
1886,  that  "this  Society  deprecates  any  measure  of 
church  organization  which  may  tend  permanently  to 
subject  the  native  church  units  in  India  to  the  forma- 
tion and  arrangements  of  the  national  and  established 
Church  of  a  far  distant  and  very  different  country,  and 
therefore  desires  that  all  present  arrangements  for 
church  organization  should  remain  as  elastic  as  pos- 
sible, until  the  native  Christians  themselves  shall  be 
numerous  and  powerful  enough  to  have  a  dominant 
voice  in  the  formation  of  an  ecclesiastical  constitution 
on  lines  suitable  to  the  Indian  people." 

Values  in  Western  Views.  Recognition  of  this 
freedom  does  not  imply  that  our  creeds  and  interpreta- 
tions of  Scripture  are  wrong,  or  that  we  should  object 
to  their  adoption  by  the  churches  in  non-Christian 
lands.  We  may  fairly  claim  that  many  centuries  of 


196  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

Bible  study  and  Christian  experience  have  taught  the 
churches  of  Europe  and  America  more  than  it  is  rea- 
sonable to  expect  the  rising  churches  in  non-Christian 
lands  to  acquire  in  one  or  two  generations.  Let  us  give 
them  the  full  benefit  of  all  that  we  have  gained  at  such 
heavy  cost.  It  would  be  most  unbrotherly  to  leave 
them  to  stumble  without  guidance  along  the  rocky  path 
in  which  we  have  had  so  many  falls.  But  it  is  one  thing 
to  give  them  the  information  and  the  counsel,  and  quite 
another  thing  to  impose  them  as  if  we  were  infallible 
and  authoritative  interpreters  of  truth.  Grant  that  it 
is  too  soon  to  expect  much  independent  thinking  on 
the  profound  themes  of  theology  and  its  related  philos- 
ophies, and  that  for  some  time  yet  the  young  churches 
will  reproduce  more  or  less  closely  the  ideas  that  the 
missionaries  inculcate.  If  this  is  true,  it  is  all  the 
more  important  that  those  ideas  should  concern  the 
substance  of  Christianity  rather  than  the  external  and 
artificial  forms  with  which  we  have  clothed  it.  The 
Anglican  Bishop  of  Oxford  expressed  a  truth  that  is 
applicable  to  other  churches  as  well  as  his  when  he 
said :  "There  is  a  very  specific  Anglican  color  about 
our  home  religion  which  we  ought  to  have  no  desire 
to  perpetuate  in  India.  An  Englishman,  wherever  he 
goes,  is  apt  to  identify  his  religion  with  his  memories 
of  home.  We  ought  to  identify  our  religion  with  the 
Christ  of  all  nations." 

Denominationalism  Restricted.  Two  contrasting 
opinions  are  urged  regarding  this  subject.  One  is  that 
foreign  missions  should  be  the  extension  of  the  de- 


RELATION  TO  MISSIONS  AND  CHURCHES       197 

nomination  throughout  the  world,  including  its  dis- 
tinctive tenets  and  ecclesiastical  forms.  The  other  is 
that  foreign  missions  should  be  the  communication  of 
the  essential  truths  of  New  Testament  teaching  without 
special  reference  to  a  denominational  interpretation, 
the  churches  in  the  mission  field  being  encouraged  to 
develop  their  own  creeds  and  forms  of  organization  or 
to  make  such  adaptations  of  western  ones  as  the  spirit 
of  God  may  indicate. 

The  first  opinion  was  more  common  a  generation 
ago  than  it  is  to-day,  but  it  is  still  held  by  some  devoted 
men  who  generously  support  the  missionary  work  of 
their  respective  churches. 

Growth  of  Better  View.  The  other  opinion  is  held 
by  increasing  numbers  of  missionaries  and  their  sup- 
porters and  is  more  and  more  coming  to  be  a  charac- 
teristic of  the  foreign  missionary  movement  as  a  whole. 
If  we  are  to  extend  the  denomination,  which  denomina- 
tion? Which  one  or  ones  of  the  170  in  the  United 
States  and  the  183  in  Great  Britain?  Picture  the  relig- 
ious chaos  on  the  foreign  field  if  these  home  divi- 
sions are  to  be  emphasized.  I  cannot  believe  that  it  is 
our  duty  to  perpetuate  in  Asia  and  Africa  the  sectarian 
divisions  of  Europe  and  America.  Why  should  the 
Christians  of  Korea  be  divided  into  Northern  Meth-- 
odists  and  Southern  Methodists  because  a  civil  war 
was  waged  in  the  United  States  half  a  century  ago? 
Why  should  the  Christians  of  India  be  labeled  English 
Wesleyans,  German  Lutherans,  and  American  Bap- 
tists? Imagine  a  Dutch  Reformed  Chinese!  Surely 


198  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

this  would  be  sectarianism  gone  to  seed,  if  indeed  it 
would  not  approximate  one  of  the  sins  for  which  Christ 
rebuked  the  scribes  and  Pharisees. 

A  prominent  clergyman  told  me  that  he  doubted 
the  wisdom  of  a  union  of  the  Asiatic  churches  as  it 
might  weaken  the  sense  of  responsibility  of  the  home 
churches  to  support  mission  work.  He  thought  that 
a  denomination  in  America  would  take  a  deeper  interest 
in  a  comparatively  small  native  Church  wholly  de- 
pendent upon  it  than  it  would  in  an  indeterminate  part 
of  a  larger  Church.  Must  then  the  unity  of  the  churches 
of  Asia  be  sacrificed  to  the  divisions  of  American  and 
European  churches?  Shall  we  buy  their  dependence 
with  foreign  gold  and  nullify  our  hope  of  developing 
their  self-support?  The  majority  of  missionary  con- 
stituencies with  which  I  am  familiar  take  no  such 
position.  They  do  not  want  their  boards  to  conduct 
a  sectarian  propaganda  and  would  diminish  their  gifts 
if  the  boards  did  conduct  it.  Where  donors  do  de- 
mand it  as  a  condition  of  support  and  cannot  be  per- 
suaded to  take  a  broader  view,  it  would  be  far  better 
for  the  cause  of  Christ  for  a  board  to  reply:  "Thy 
silver  perish  with  thee!"  than  to  accept  gifts  on  terms 
which  would  rivet  western  sectarian  chains  on  the 
limbs  of  the  growing  eastern  churches. 

Boards  on  Union.  It  would  be  interesting  to  col- 
late the  policies  of  the  missionary  boards  on  the  ques- 
tion of  denominational  extension  as  contrasted  with 
cooperation  and  union.  Space  limits  permit  only  a  few 
citations.  The  American  Presbyterian  Board  (North- 


RELATION  TO  MISSIONS  AND  CHURCHES       199 

ern)  voted,  May  15,  1900:  "Believing  that  the  time  has 
come  for  a  yet  larger  measure  of  union  and  cooperation 
in  missionary  work,  the  board  would  ask  the  General 
Assembly  to  approve  its  course  in  recommending  to  its 
missions  in  various  lands  that  they  encourage  as  far  as 
practicable  the  formation  of  union  churches,  in  which 
the  results  of  the  mission  work  of  all  allied  evangelical 
churches  should  be  gathered,  and  that  they  observe 
everywhere  the  most  generous  principles  of  missionary 
comity.  In  the  view  of  the  board  the  object  of  the 
foreign  missionary  enterprise  is  not  to  perpetuate  on 
the  mission  field  the  denominational  distinctions  of 
Christendom,  but  to  build  upon  Scriptural  lines  and 
according  to  Scriptural  methods  the  kingdom  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Fellowship  and  union  among  na- 
tive Christians  of  whatever  name  should  be  encouraged 
in  every  possible  way,  with  a  view  to  that  unity  of  all 
disciples  for  which  our  Lord  prayed  and  to  which  all 
mission  effort  should  contribute."  The  General  As- 
sembly approved  this  deliverance. 

The  American  Baptist  Board,  September,  1912,  in- 
cluded the  following  in  a  statement  of  "general 
policy" :  "That  to  the  utmost  practical  extent  there 
should  be  cooperation  with  other  Christian  bodies 
working  in  the  same  fields.  Such  cooperation  is  of 
special  importance  in  the  department  of  higher  educa- 
tion, where  students  are  relatively  few  and  education 
expensive."  This  declaration  was  approved  by  the 
Northern  Baptist  Convention  of  May,  1913,  which  put 
forth  a  memorable  statement  in  which  it  professed 


200  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

"both  willingness  and  humility  to  learn  from  others  any 
aspects  of  the  way  of  life  which  we  may  not  have  held 
in  due  proportion."  Secretaries  of  the  missionary 
boards  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South, 
Southern  Presbyterian,  Congregational,  Disciples,  and 
several  other  Churches,  write  to  the  common  effect  that 
while  their  respective  boards  have  not  formulated  their 
policy  in  general  statements,  they  are  "heartily  in  favor 
of  union  and  cooperation"  and  "have  repeatedly  ex- 
pressed it  in  concrete  cases,"  which  are  "always  con- 
sidered from  the  view-point  of  sympathy  for  the  prin- 
ciple." The  Rev.  James  L.  Barton  has  publicly 
stated  that  "the  American  Board  of  Commission- 
ers for  Foreign  Missions  has  repeatedly  committed 
itself  to  any  and  every  practical  plan  of  cooperation 
which  was  within  the  limits  of  its  financial  resources, 
believing  that  its  work  in  Asia  and  Africa  is  not  to  build 
up  a  Church  according  to  any  set  model,  but  that  it  is  to 
cooperate  with  other  Christian  workers  in  the  establish- 
ment of  the  living  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  as  the  center 
of  power  and  life  and  redemption  for  all  men." 

The  Rev.  Junius  B.  Remensnyder,  ex-President  of 
the  General  Synod  of  the  Lutheran  Church  in  the 
United  States  of  America,  writes:  "The  Lutherans 
believe  in  one  holy  catholic  and  apostolic  Church.  Con- 
sequently the  divisions  of  Protestantism  are  held  to 
be  against  the  teachings,  wishes,  and  prayers  of  Christ 
and  a  great  obstacle  to  the  growth  and  blessed  influence 
of  Christianity.  And  while  not  willing  to  compromise 
any  doctrine  essential  and  vital,  the  Lutheran  Church 


RELATION  TO  MISSIONS  AND  CHURCHES       201 

would  go  to  the  extremest  limit  that  conscience  will 
allow  to  achieve  the  glorious  end  of  the  union  of  all 
the  true  disciples  of  Christ  of  whatever  name  into  one 
unbroken  fellowship  in  a  universal  kingdom  of  God."1 
The  boards  of  some  other  communions,  while  cher- 
ishing the  same  ideals  of  Christian  unity  and  church 
development,  do  not  feel  free,  under  present  condi- 
tions, to  commit  themselves  to  the  same  forms  of 
statement  and  method.  The  Southern  Baptist  churches 
may  be  considered  fairly  representative  of  this  point 
of  view.  They  have  carefully  explained  their  position 
in  a  "Pronouncement  on  Christian  Union"  issued  by  the 
Convention  of  1914,  in  which,  after  setting  forth  their 
convictions  which  they  deem  it  their  duty  to  guard, 
they  add :  "It  follows  from  all  that  has  been  said  that, 
as  we  regard  the  matter,  the  interests  of  Christian  unity 
cannot  be  best  promoted  by  a  policy  of  compromise. 
Much  good  will  come  of  fraternal  conference  and  inter- 
change of  view.  There  will  no  doubt  gradually  arise 
far  greater  unity  of  conviction  than  exists  now.  But 
this  cannot  be  artificially  produced  or  made  to  order. 
A  deepening  and  enriching  of  the  life  in  Christ  among 
Christians  of  all  names  are  a  prime  condition.  Groups 
of  Christian  bodies  which  stand  nearest  each  other 
can  first  come  to  an  understanding.  The  desire  and 
prayer  for  the  coming  of  Christ's  kingdom  on  earth 
will  more  and  more  intensify  the  spiritual  unity  of  his 
people.  We  hereby  avow  in  the  most  emphatic  manner 

1Artide,  "How  the  Lutherans  Look  at  Christian  Unity,"  in 
the  Christian  Work,  November  28,  1914. 


202  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

our  desire  and  willingness  to  cooperate  in  all  practicable 
ways  in  every  cause  of  righteousness.  We  join  hands 
with  Christians  of  all  names  in  seeking  these  common 
ends.  We  ask  no  one  to  compromise  his  convictions  in 
joining  us  in  such  movements,  and  we  ask  only  that  our 
own  be  respected.  We  firmly  believe  there  are  ways 
by  which  all  men  who  stand  together  for  righteousness 
may  make  their  power  felt  without  invading  the  cher- 
ished convictions  of  any  fellow  worker.  Mutual  con- 
sideration and  respect  lie  at  the  basis  of  all  cooperative 
work.  We  firmly  believe  that  a  way  may  be  found 
through  the  maze  of  divided  Christendom  out  into 
the  open  spaces  of  Christian  union  only  as  the  people 
of  Christ  follow  the  golden  thread  of  an  earnest  desire 
to  know  and  to  do  his  will."  1 

The  Inspiring  Thought.  Beneath  all  the  perplexing 
questions  of  relationship,  form,  and  method  lies  the 
deeper  and  more  comforting  fact  that  God  is  raising 
up  a  people  unto  himself  throughout  that  great  section 
of  our  world  which  we  have  been  wont  to  call  non- 
Christian.  No  longer  can  Asia,  Africa,  the  islands  of 
the  sea,  and  great  sections  of  Latin  America  be  painted 
in  unrelieved  black  as  contrasted  with  the  white  sec- 
tions which  are  occupied  by  the  alleged  Christian  na- 
tions. Already  there  are  light  places  in  nearly  all  of 


'Some  of  the  material  of  these  pages  has  been  taken  from  the 
author's  book  entitled,  Unity  and  Missions:  Can  a  Divided 
Church  Save  the  World?  Compare  that  book  for  a  fuller  dis- 
cussion of  the  subject  of  union  and  cooperation  and  its  related 
problems. 


RELATION  TO  MISSIONS  AND  CHURCHES       203 

the  countries  of  the  world.  Even  darkest  Africa  has 
thousands  of  groups  of  people  who  have  looked  unto 
him  and  are  radiant  with  the  reflected  light  from  the 
Sun  of  righteousness.1  Lowly  people  they  are,  for  the 
most  part,  poor  in  this  world's  goods,  childlike  in  the 
simplicity  of  their  faith  and  love;  but  they  are  wit- 
nessing for  Christ  with  a  joy  and  fidelity  which  should 
move  our  hearts  to  sympathetic  love  and  admiration. 
Once  more  the  Spirit  of  God  is  moving  upon  the  face 
of  the  waters  and  once  more  a  new  created  world  is 
emerging.  In  this  period  of  awakening  and  recon- 
struction we  of  the  home  churches  as  well  as  those  on 
the  field,  are  called  upon  to  show  breadth  of  mind,  free- 
dom from  racial  and  sectarian  prejudice,  catholicity  of 
spirit,  and  a  confident  faith  that  the  living  Christ  will 
continue  to  dwell  within  his  Church  in  every  land. 

The  Spiritual  Dynamic — Not  Organization.  We 
should  bear  in  mind  throughout  all  our  study  that  the 
church  is  preeminently  a  spiritual  body  and  that  its 
interests  can  be  best  advanced  by  the  spiritual 
methods  of  prayer  and  consecrated  effort  and  giving. 
Organization,  however  complete  and  efficient,  cannot 
make  a  church.  It  is  necessary  to  the  work  of  the 
church,  but  in  itself  it  is  like  a  locomotive  without 
steam.  The  usefulness  of  an  engine  depends  not  only 
upon  the  perfection  of  its  mechanism  but  upon  the 
power  that  utilizes  it.  Without  power,  the  engine 
can  accomplish  nothing,  cannot  even  move  itself.  The 
most  highly  developed  ecclesiastical  organizations  have 

^sa.  xxxiv.  5. 


204  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

seldom  been  those  which  exerted  the  largest  spiritual 
influence 

Not  Money.  Nor  can  money  in  itself  create  a 
church.  Of  course  money,  like  organization,  is  neces- 
sary. We  are  painfully  aware  that  a  great  deal  more 
of  it  is  urgently  needed.  However  spiritual-minded 
the  missionary  may  be,  his  traveling  expenses  must  be 
paid  and  his  food  and  clothing  bought.  Residences, 
schools,  hospitals,  and  other  requisites  of  missionary 
work,  must  be  paid  for  in  hard  cash.  We  should  not 
be  understood  as  lessening  the  heavy  sense  of  respon- 
sibility that  Christians  in  America  and  Europe  should 
give  systematically  and  in  proportion  to  their  means. 
Prayers  and  sympathy  will  avail  little  if  they  do  not 
find  expression  in  consecrated  giving. 

But  there  is  danger  that  in  this  commercial  age  the 
evangelization  of  the  world  may  be  conceived  of  as 
merely  a  question  of  mechanics  and  finance.  A  board 
is  often  told  that  if  missionaries  could  have  a  sufficient 
appropriation,  they  could  evangelize  their  fields  in  a 
short  time.  Hundreds  of  addresses  and  appeals  em- 
body this  argument,  not  infrequently  figuring  out  just 
how  much  money  the  realization  of  our  aim  would  cost. 
But  what  shall  we  say  of  such  home  cities  as  London, 
New  York,  and  Chicago,  in  each  of  which  thousands 
of  salaried  Christian  workers  are  employed  and  mil- 
lions of  dollars  are  expended  annually  in  church  work, 
but  whose  moral  conditions  are  a  reproach  and  a  heart- 
break to  the  Christians  who  live  in  them? 

On  the  other  hand  some  of  the  mightiest  manifesta- 


RELATION  TO  MISSIONS  AND  CHURCHES       265 

tions  of  the  power  of  God  have  been  largely  inde- 
pendent of  external  means.  The  great  results  in 
Korea  have  been  ascribed  to  the  fact  that  the  boards 
poured  men  and  money  into  it  and  that  corresponding 
results  could  have  been  obtained  elsewhere  if  the  boards 
had  adopted  a  like  policy.  The  reverse  is  true.  The 
revivals  preceded  the  pouring  in  of  money,  the  latter 
being  sent  to  take  care  of  a  work  that  had  already 
developed.  But  afterwards,  when  the  missions,  with 
greatly  enlarged  force  and  appropriations,  tried  to 
make  the  greatest  revival  of  all,  it  did  not  equal  the 
revivals  of  earlier  days  when  human  resources  were 
smaller.  An  Africa  mission  has  had  almost  phenom- 
enal spiritual  blessing  during  the  last  six  years  until 
its  reports  have  come  to  be  an  inspiration  to  all  who 
read  them;  but  its  annual  budget  is  about  the  same  as 
it  was  before.  The  most  remarkable  revival  that 
China  has  ever  witnessed  came  through  the  preaching 
of  a  Chinese  minister  without  an  additional  dollar 
from  abroad.  Conversely,  experience  shows  that,  when 
European  and  American  churches  have  had  the  most 
money,  they  have  been  most  formal  and  barren.  Ample 
funds  secure  pomp  and  architecture  and  nominal  ad- 
herents but  not  real  spiritual  achievement. 

Some  of  our  splendid  laymen,  accustomed  to  bring- 
ing big  business  enterprises  to  pass  by  the  use  of  ample 
capital,  are  apparently  under  the  impression  that  the 
success  of  the  foreign  missionary  enterprise  is  chiefly 
a  matter  of  capitalization.  I  heard  one  of  them  give 
a  vivid  description  of  the  appalling  conditions  in  a 


206  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

certain  country,  and  argue  that  if  we  would  put  suffi- 
cient money  into  it,  we  could  reproduce  the  results 
that  have  been  achieved  in  the  most  fruitful  fields. 
And  yet  that  field  is  one  on  which  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  has  spent  millions  of  dollars.  The  principal 
city,  which  is  only  of  moderate  size,  has  a  magnificent 
cathedral  and  nineteen  other  great  churches.  Every 
town  in  the  whole  country  has  an  expensive  edifice, 
while  schools,  priests,  monks,  and  nuns  are  numbered 
by  hundreds.  Yet  the  spiritual  state  is  so  utterly  dead 
and  the  moral  condition  so  completely  rotten  that  there 
is  no  hope  of  relief  except  as  the  Protestant  Churches 
send  a  few  missionaries,  not  to  duplicate  the  expendi- 
ture of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  but  to  preach  and 
exemplify  that  kind  of  spiritual  life  which  money  and 
numbers  cannot  convey. 

Do  we  not  need  to  remind  ourselves  that  the  grace 
of  God  cannot  be  bought;  that  the  evangelization  of 
the  world  is  not  primarily  a  matter  of  dollars  or 
machinery?  The  book  of  Jonah  shows  what  tre- 
mendous results  God  can  achieve  through  one  solitary 
man,  and  not  an  ideal  man  either.  It  would  be  lamen- 
table if  we  were  to  commercialize  the  missionary 
appeal  and  the  missionary  enterprise,  lamentable  if  we 
were  to  feel  that  gold  in  any  amount  can  bring  a  people 
to  Christ. 

From  apostolic  days  to  the  present,  Christian  workers 
never  have  had  enough  material  resources  from  a 
human  view-point,  and  the  probabilities  are  that  they 
never  will  have.  God  is  not  limited  by  our  human 


RELATION  TO  MISSIONS  AND  CHURCHES       207 

methods,  and  he  often  works  most  wondrously  with 
what  appear  to  us  to  be  scanty  material  resources.  Men 
are  so  constituted  that  they  do  their  best  work  under 
pressure  and  have  most  faith  in  God  when  human  aid 
seems  most  inadequate.  The  stony  soil  and  stern  win- 
ters of  New  England  developed  more  virile  men  than 
Ceylon 

"Where  every  prospect  pleases 
And  only  man  is  vile." 

Money  in  Its  Place.  These  considerations  do  not 
form  an  excuse  for  the  selfish  withholding  of  money. 
I  say  again  that  a  great  deal  more  of  it  is  urgently 
needed.  The  Bible  strongly  emphasizes  the  duty  and 
privilege  of  giving.  God  has  chosen  to  work  through 
our  gifts  as  well  as  through  our  prayers,  and  he  will 
accept  no  plea  for  our  neglect.  There  is  hardly  a  mis- 
sion station  in  the  world  that  has  adequate  equipment. 
One  physician  in  a  hospital  and  one  teacher  in  a  school, 
with  small,  meagerly  furnished  buildings  and  one  or 
two  half  trained  native  assistants,  cannot  work  to  the 
best  advantage.  The  evangelistic  force  is  equally 
scanty.  While  boards  and  missionaries  are  careful  to 
follow  sound  principles  of  administration,  we  are  far, 
very  far  indeed,  from  the  time  when  the  calls  upon  the 
home  churches  can  be  lessened  an  iota.  Rather  must 
they  be  heavily  increased  if  we  are  to  discharge  the 
duty  that  God  has  laid  upon  us.  But  we  should  never 
forget  that  organization  and  money  of  themselves  have 
not  saved  our  home  lands  and  that  they  will  not  save 
foreign  lands.  Human  resources  will  be  a  vain  reliance 


208  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

unless  they  are  used  of  God.  This  is  a  money-mad  age. 
Let  us  be  on  guard  that  its  mammon-frenzy  does  not 
infect  our  work,  and  let  us  be  careful  to  place  heaviest 
emphasis  on  the  spiritual  power  which  alone  can  vital- 
ize our  contributions  and  our  toil.  The  love  of  money 
may  be  the  root  of  all  evil  in  missions  as  in  other  things. 

The  effective  missionary  address  must  include  in- 
formation as  to  the  additional  support  that  is  required, 
so  that  hearers  will  know  what  they  should  do;  but 
such  information  will  accomplish  nothing  unless  the 
spiritual  interest  has  been  aroused,  the  spiritual  motive 
made  powerfully  operative,  and  men  made  to  feel  the 
inspiring  privilege  of  becoming  coworkers  together 
with  God  in  saving  and  helping  their  fellow  men.  The 
experience  of  a  hundred  years  has  proved  conclusively 
that  kindly  humanitarian  concern  and  mere  pity  for 
those  who  are  worse  off  than  we  are  are  not  adequate 
foundations  for  missionary  work.  They  result  in 
occasional  and  sporadic  gifts  for  some  particular  in- 
stitution or  individual  that  may  have  aroused  tem- 
porary interest;  but  they  lack  the  staying  power  that 
is  required  for  a  solid  and  enduring  service  through 
good  and  through  evil  report  and  for  all  the  varied 
activities  involved  in  the  missionary  enterprise,  attrac- 
tive or  unattractive.  Mission  boards  have  learned  that 
they  can  permanently  depend  only  upon  those  Chris- 
tians who  accept  Jesus  Christ  as  Lord  and  Savior, 
who  support  mission  work  from  spiritual  motives,  and 
who  give  their  time  and  money  for  Christ's  sake. 

Prayer  and  Consecration.     Face  to   face  with  the 


RELATION  TO  MISSIONS  AND  CHURCHES       209 

tremendous  opportunities  in  the  non-Christian  world, 
the  immense  work  to  be  done,  and  the  inadequate  facili- 
ties for  doing  it,  the  preeminent  need  of  the  churches 
both  at  home  and  abroad  is  greater  spiritual  power. 
Foreign  mission  work  needs  more  than  double  its 
present  staff  and  equipment;  but  it  needs  a  hundred 
times  more  prayer  and  consecration  in  those  who 
support  it  in  the  home  churches  as  well  as  in  those 
who  conduct  it  in  board  offices  and  on  the  field.  It 
is  as  true  of  the  difficulties  which  confront  the  disciples 
to-day  as  it  was  in  the  first  century  of  the  Christian 
era,  that  "this  kind  can  come  out  by  nothing,  save  by 
prayer."  Dr.  John  R.  Mott  said  at  the  World  Mission- 
ary Conference  in  Edinburgh :  "From  my  first  world 
trip  I  came  back  saying  we  must  have  thousands  of 
more  missionaries.  After  my  second  trip,  I  said  we 
must  have  scores  of  thousands  of  native  workers. 
After  my  third  trip  I  gave  up  talking  figures.  The 
evangelization  of  the  world  is  not  a  question  of 
mathematics  but  of  dynamics.  A  few  men  full  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  will  upset  whole  calculations."  "Not  by 
might,  nor  by  power,  but  by  my  Spirit,  saith  Jehovah 
of  hosts."  x 

The  vital  question  for  us  to  face  therefore  is  not 
so  much  one  of  mechanics  and  finances  as  of  spiritual 
power.  Are  we  facing  our  problems  and  opportunities 
with  sufficient  courage  and  faith?  Are  we  dedicating 
ourselves  unreservedly  to  the  service  of  Christ,  obtain- 
ing aH  the  spiritual  power  that  God  makes  accessible 

'Zech.  iv.  6. 


210  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

to  us,  and  doing  our  utmost  to  make  Jesus  Christ  intel- 
ligently known  to  all  whom  we  can  reach?  These 
questions  should  be  pressed  to  the  utmost  limit.  There 
are  vast  areas  in  the  spiritual  realm  which  few  of  us 
have  yet  explored.  We  stand  wistfully  on  the  border 
of  that  realm,  burdened  in  spirit  because  we  know  so 
little  of  it,  contrite  of  heart  as  we  reflect  that  we  alone 
are  to  blame  for  the  shadows  that  obscure  our  vision, 
and  looking  eagerly  toward  the  beckoning  hand  of  him 
who  withholdeth  not  but  waiteth  to  be  gracious.  In 
this  holy  quest  we  are  one  with  all  those  who  in  every 
age  and  land  have  sought  to  know  the  mind  of  Christ 
more  perfectly  and  to  do  the  divine  will  "as  in  heaven, 
so  on  earth." 

Love  Awakened.  The  more  I  learn  of  the  Chris- 
tians in  the  mission  field,  the  more  I  respect  and  love 
them.  I  had  expected  to  find  intelligence  in  the  Japa- 
nese leaders,  for  I  knew  that  many  of  them  come  from 
the  higher  classes.  But  I  confess  that  I  was  sur- 
prised by  what  I  learned  in  Korea,  China,  Siam, 
Burma,  India,  Syria,  Egypt,  and  the  Philippines.  Most 
of  the  Christians  in  these  countries  have  come  from 
the  lower  strata  of  society.  I  am  not  unmindful  that 
some  are  from  the  upper  classes  and  that  the  number 
is  now  increasing.  But  the  average  type  is  that  of  the 
village  peasant  and  small  shopkeeper.  Comparatively 
few  had  any  education  or  social  advantages  prior  to 
their  baptism.  Mission  schools  are  now  turning  out 
a  larger  proportion  of  educated  men.  But  the  ma- 


STUDENT  VOLUNTEERS  FOR  HOME  MISSIONS 
Shantung  Christian   University 
University  of   Nanking 


RELATION  TO  MISSIONS  AND  CHURCHES       211 

jority  of  the  believers  still  belong  to  the  first  generation 
of  Christians.  As  I  met  the  average  types  in  villages 
and  cities,  churches  and  homes,  I  was  profoundly  im- 
pressed by  their  sincerity  and  devotion. 

Clear  Witnesses.  One  Saturday  evening,  after  a 
hot  and  dusty  journey,  we  arrived  at  an  isolated  sta- 
tion. As  I  was  tired  and  the  hour  was  late,  I  did  not 
expect  to  meet  the  Christians  that  night.  Learning, 
however,  that  many  of  them  had  assembled  in  the 
church  and  were  waiting  for  me,  I  went  over  and,  after 
speaking  briefly,  I  asked  them  to  tell  me  in  their  own 
way  what  they  had  found  in  Christ  that  led  them  to 
love  and  serve  him.  One  after  another  those  men  rose 
and  answered  my  question.  I  jotted  down  their  replies 
and  find  the  following  in  my  note-book :  "Deliverance 
from  sin,"  "forgiveness,"  "peace,"  "guidance," 
"strength,"  "power  to  do,"  "joy,"  "comfort,"  "eternal 
life."  Surely  these  earnest  disciples  had  found  some- 
thing of  value  in  Christ !  As  we  bowed  together  in  a 
closing  prayer,  my  heart  went  out  to  them  as  to  those 
who,  with  fewer  advantages  than  I  had  enjoyed,  had 
nevertheless  learned  more  than  I  of  the  deep  things 
of  God. 

Like  the  New  Testament  Churches.  The  scattered 
churches  in  the  mission  field  to-day  are  in  about  the 
same  position  as  the  churches  of  the  first  century  to 
which  the  inspired  writers  addressed  their  Epistles. 
They,  too,  were  poor  and  lowly  people  in  the  midst  of 
a  scoffing  and  hostile  world.  The  rich  and  the  great 
heeded  them  not,  and  fidelity  to  Christ  often  meant 


212  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

trials  that  were  hard  to  bear.  To  them  the  apostles 
wrote,  expressing  the  love  which  they  bore  them,  their 
anxiety  as  they  considered  the  problems  and  tempta- 
tions which  the  followers  of  Christ  were  facing,  and 
yet  their  unfaltering  faith  that  God  would  guide  his 
people  aright.  We  reread  those  Epistles  from  day 
to  day  as  we  journeyed  among  the  churches  in  Asia, 
and  we  were  impressed  by  the  similarity  of  ancient 
and  modern  conditions.  All  of  us  will  gain  a  better 
understanding  both  of  the  Epistles  and  of  the  churches 
in  the  mission  field,  if  we  study  the  Epistles  from  this 
point  of  view.  The  apostles  could  hardly  have  written 
differently  if  they  had  directly  addressed  the  churches 
in  non-Christian  lands  in  the  twentieth  century.  The 
little  companies  of  believers  in  Rome,  Corinth,  and 
Thessalonica  and  the  "sojourners  of  the  Dispersion  in 
Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia,  Asia,  and  Bithynia,"  are 
reproduced  to-day  in  the  churches  of  Africa,  Asia, 
South  America,  and  the  islands  of  the  sea.  We  may 
say  of  each  of  them  what  the  Rev.  J.  Campbell 
Gibson  said  of  the  Church  in  China:  'Everything  is 
hostile  to  it  [the  Church].  It  is  striking  its  roots  in  an 
uncongenial  soil  and  breathes  a  polluted  air.  It  may 
justly  claim  for  itself  the  beautiful  emblem  so  happily 
seized,  though  so  poorly  justified,  by  Buddhism — the 
emblem  of  the  lotus.  It  roots  itself  in  rotten  mud, 
thrusts  up  the  spears  of  its  leaves  and  blossoms  through 
the  foul  and  stagnant  water,  and  lifts  its  spotless  petals 
over  all,  holding  them  up  pure,  stainless,  and  fragrant 
in  the  face  of  a  burning  and  pitiless  sun.  So  it  is  with 


RELATION  TO  THE  CHURCHES  OF  THE  WEST   213 

the  Christian  life  in  China.     Its  existence  there  is  a 
continuous  miracle  of  life,  of  life  more  abundant."  1 

Our  Duty  to  Help.  Christians  at  home  should  have 
a  deeper  sense  of  the  duty  and  privilege  of  strengthen- 
ing the  missionary  work  which  represents  our  coopera- 
tion with  these  churches  in  the  mission  field.  Recogni- 
tion of  their  rights  does  not  lighten  our  obligation  in  the 
slightest  degree.  Do  we  not  owe  as  much  to  a  brother 
as  to  a  servant?  Indeed,  does  not  the  change  of  rela- 
tionship strengthen  our  feeling  of  responsibility?  We 
count  it  so  in  our  personal  relationships  at  home,  and 
the  Church  is  the  family  of  God.2  These  churches  are 
our  younger  brothers,  growing  rapidly,  but  most  of 
them  not  yet  able  to  walk  alone,  and  even  the  strongest 
needing  our  assistance  in  many  ways.  The  most  ambi- 
tious and  independent  of  them  frankly  tell  us  that  they 
will  require  our  help  for  a  long  time  to  come.  Said 
the  late  Bishop  Honda,  of  Japan:  "Not  to  advance 
your  present  work  there  is  out  of  the  question.  From 
the  depth  of  my  heart  I  request  you  to  go  on.  The 
united  new  Church  is  struggling  for  self-support  and 
has  not  power  to  advance ;  so  it  is  absolutely  necessary 
to  have  the  missionaries  work  for  the  unevangelized 
places.  If  the  board  of  missions  has  an  idea  to  with- 
draw from  Japan,  it  is  a  great  mistake.  I  hope  your 
Mission  Council  will  do  all  in  their  power  to  explain 
the  real  situation  to  the  board  and  churches  at  home 
and  the  enormous  need  of  missionary  work." 

^Mission  Problems  and  Mission  Methods  in  South  China,  240. 
:Gal.  vi.  10 ;  Eph.  ii.  19;  iii.  15. 


214  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

The  Waiting  Millions.  A  Church  may  support  and 
govern  itself  and  be  zealous  in  making  Christ  known 
to  the  people  of  its  local  communities ;  but  what  about 
the  training  of  its  ministry,  and  what  about  the  tens  of 
millions  of  unreached  peoples  in  other  parts  of  the  same 
country?  How  can  100,000  Japanese  Protestant 
Christians,  however  energetic  and  devoted  they  are, 
evangelize  a  population  of  53,000,000,  or  1,655,000  in 
India  evangelize  315,000,000,  or  500,000  in  Africa 
evangelize  130,000,000?  Shall  we  leave  nine  hundred 
and  ninety  millions  of  souls  of  this  generation  to  die 
without  Christ  because  there  are  native  churches  that 
might  make  him  known  to  the  remaining  ten  millions  ? 

The  land  that  yet  remaineth  to  be  possessed!  How 
the  churches  in  the  mission  field  need  our  help  in  pos- 
sessing it  for  Christ!  Many  a  night  during  our  jour- 
neys in  Asia  we  had  a  picture  in  lights  and  shades  of  the 
spiritual  condition  of  the  non-Christian  world.  A 
humble  church  was  filled  with  believers  who  were 
rejoicing  within  the  pale  of  "his  marvelous  light." 
Beyond  them  and  crowding  the  doors  were  many 
others,  not  yet  wholly  in  the  light,  but  partially  illu- 
mined by  it,  their  eager  faces  turned  toward  the  place 
from  which  it  was  shining  and  where  a  man  was 
speaking  of  the  Light  of  the  world.  Behind  these 
were  still  others  whom  I  could  not  count,  standing  in 
deeper  shadows.  Now  and  then  a  flare  of  the  lamp 
shot  a  ray  of  light  into  the  gloom  and  showed  scores 
or  hundreds  of  spectators,  some  indifferent,  some  curi- 
ous, some  gravely  wondering;  and  then  the  darkness 


RELATION  TO  THE  CHURCHES  OF  THE  WEST  216 

silently  enfolded  them  again  so  that  only  indistinct 
masses  of  heavier  blackness  showed  where  an  unnum- 
bered multitude  was  gathered.  As  I  looked  upon 
such  a  scene  night  after  night,  I  was  encouraged  by 
the  number  of  those  who  had  come  into  the  light,  but 
I  felt  more  deeply  than  ever  that  we,  who  stand  in  the 
brighter  light,  should  consecrate  our  money  and  our 
lives  to  make  the  Light  of  the  world  shine  more  widely 
upon  the  multitudes  that  now  stand  "in  gross  dark- 
ness." 

Apostolic  Greetings.  I  would  that  this  book  might 
bear  to  its  readers  a  message  of  cheer  and  love  from 
the  far-off  disciples  in  non-Christian  lands.  I  seem  to 
hear  them  saying:  "All  the  saints  salute  you,  espe- 
cially they  that  are  of  Caesar's  household" — followers 
of  our  Lord  in  places  where  the  Christian  life  is  as 
hard  to  live  as  it  was  in  the  palace  of  Rome's  worst 
emperor;  but  even  there  walking  humbly  and  faith- 
fully as  saints  of  God,  and  sending  their  Christian 
salutations  over  land  and  sea  to  the  saints  that  are  in 
Europe  and  America.  St.  Paul  gave  noble  expression 
to  the  attitude  of  mind  which  should  characterize  us  of 
to-day  in  thinking  of  them.  He  wrote  of  his  affec- 
tionate remembrance  of  them;1  his  frequent  supplica- 
tion in  their  behalf;2  his  confidence  that  God  would 
perfect  his  work  in  them  ;3  and  his  longing  after  them 
"in  the  tender  mercies  of  Christ  Jesus."  4 

In  like  manner,  should  we  of  the  West  say  of  our 
brethren  in  the  mission  field,  as  St.  Paul  said  of  his 

'Phil.  i.  3,  7.          'Phil.  i.  3,  4-          'Phil.  i.  6.       "Phil.  i.  8. 


216  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

beloved  fellow  Christians  in  Colossae  and  Ephesus: 
"For  this  cause  we  also,  since  the  day  we  heard  it,  do 
not  cease  to  pray  and  make  request  for  you,  that  ye 
may  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  his  will  in  all  spir- 
itual wisdom  and  understanding,  to  walk  worthily  of 
the  Lord  unto  all  pleasing,  bearing  fruit  in  every 
good  work,  and  increasing  in  the  knowledge  of  God;"1 
"till  we  all  attain  unto  the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God,  .  .  .  unto  the  measure 
of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ."2  "Unto  him 
...  be  the  glory  in  the  church  and  in  Christ  Jesus 
unto  all  generations  for  ever  and  ever."3 

"Col.  i.  9,  10.         2Eph.  iv.  13.  *Eph.  iii.  20. 


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Self-Propagation,  Self-Support,  and  Self  -Government 

"Self  Help  in  the  Mission  Field."    Bishop  A.  G.  S.  Gibson.    The 
East  and  the  West,  January,  1912. 


222  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

'The  Part  of  the  Chinese  Church  in  Mission  Administration." 
J.  Campbell  Gibson.  Chinese  Recorder,  June,  1912. 

"The  Indian  Church  and  Indian  Christian  Leadership."  Findings 
of  the  National  Conference,  Calcutta,  December,  1912,  under 
the  Presidency  of  John  R.  Mott. 

"The  Training  of  the  Indian  Clergy."  G.  Hibbert-Ware.  The 
East  and  the  West,  January,  1913. 

"The  Economic  Problem  of  the  Indian  Christian  Community." 
Alexander  McLeisch.  Young  Men  df  India,  January,  1914. 

"Church  Administration  and  Leadership."  J.  Ashley  Fitch. 
Chinese  Recorder,  April,  1914. 

"Should  Financial  Assistance  be  Given  to  Enquirers  and  Con- 
verts, if  so,  in  What  Manner?"  G.  J.  Dann.  Indian  Wit- 
ness, April,  1914. 

"The  Relation  of  Chinese  Evangelists  to  the  Problem  of  Self- 
Support."  E.  W.  Burt.  Chinese  Recorder,  May,  1914. 

"Relation  of  the  Church  and  Mission  in  Japan."  Arthur  J. 
Brown.  International  Review  of  Missions,  October,  1913. 

"A  Self-Propagating  Church  the  Goal  of  All  Mission  Work." 
Kate  L.  Ogborn.  Chinese  Recorder,  May,  1914.  (See  also 
other  articles  in  the  same  issue.) 

"Training  a  Native  Ministry  for  India."  W.  T.  Elmore.  Mis- 
sionary Review  of  the  World,  June,  1911. 

"Self-Support  in  the  Philippine  Islands."  Charles  W.  Briggs. 
Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  January,  1911. 

Unity  and  Cooperation 

Brown,  Arthur  J.    Unity  and  Missions.    Fleming  H.  Revell  Com- 
pany, New  York    $1.50,  net. 
MacGillivray,  D.     China  Mission  Year  Book,  1914,  Chapter  XI, 

"Unity  and  Cooperation."    Missionary  Education  Movement, 

New  York.    $1.50. 
Cooperation  and  Unity.   Vol.  Ill,  World  Missionary  Conference, 

Edinburgh,  1910.     Fleming  H.  Revell  Company,  New  York. 

75  cents. 
"The   Missionary   and    His   Task — Problems,    Cooperation,    and 

Methods."    G.  A.  Gollock.    International  Review  of  Missions, 

October,  1914. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  223 

"Unity  and  Cooperation  in  the  Indian  Mission  Field."    J.  H.  Mac- 
lean.   International  Review  of  Missions,  April,  1912. 

"Is  Unity  Possible  To-Day  in  Missionary  Work?"    Julius  Rich- 
ter.    Missionary  Review  of  the  World,  January,  1912. 

"Church  Unity  in  Japan."     William  Imbrie.     Japan  Evangelist, 
May,  1914. 

"United  Church  of  India."     E.   S.  Hensman.     Harvest  Field, 
June,  1914- 

Social  Service 

Faunce,   W.  H.   P.     The  Social  Aspects  of  Foreign  Missions. 

Missionary  Education  Movement,  New  York.    60  cents. 
Capen,   Edward  W.     Sociological  Progress  in  Mission  Lands. 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company,  New  York.    $1.50. 
Dennis,  James  S.  Christian  Missions  and  Social  Progress.  3  Vols. 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company,  New  York.    $2.50  each. 
Headland,  I.  T.     Some  By-Products  of  Missions.    Jennings  & 

Graham,  Cincinnati.     $1.50,  net. 
Taylor,    Alva    W.     The   Social    Work    of   Christian   Missions. 

Foreign  Christian  Missionary  Society,  Cincinnati.    50  cents. 
Fleming,  D.  J.     "Social  Studies,  Service,  and  Exhibits."    Asso- 
ciation Press,  Calcutta.    Rupees  1-4. 
Fleming,  D.  J.     "The  Social  Mission  of  the  Church  in  India." 

Association  Press,  Calcutta.    2  annas. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Abdullah,  tact  as  interpreter, 
46 

Advance  not  measured  by 
money,  204,  205 

Africa,  205 ;  attendance  at  ser- 
vices, 118;  communicants  and 
population,  214;  transforma- 
tions of  character,  119 

Africans,  as  simple  animists, 
32;  relation  to  Occidental 
Churches,  161,  171,  185,  186, 
189,  191 ;  worthy  qualities,  14, 

IS 

"Agents"  and  "helpers,"  177, 
178 

Aim,  self-government,  171 ;  to 
establish  the  Church,  187, 
191 

Aliens,  missionaries  in  Asia,  27 

All-round  gospel,  166 

American.  See  Baptist,  Presby- 
terian, etc.,  mission  boards 

American  Board  of  Commis- 
sioners for  Foreign  Missions, 
132;  favors  cooperation,  200 

American  Christians  a  stum- 
bling-block to  the  Japanese,  7 

American  governments  not  al- 
ways Christian,  68 

Amiel,  quoted  on  the  man 
formed  as  test  of  a  system, 

97 

Among  Indian  Rajahs  and 
Ryots,  10,  80,  118 

"Among  the  Hills,"  by  Whit- 
tier,  quoted,  22 

Ancestral  worship,  37 

Ancient  world  empires,  de- 
scendants of,  42 

Anglicanism  and  India,  196 


Anglo-Saxon     ancestors,     our, 

3,  ipi 
Animistic  or  simple  people,  32- 

37;  barriers  among,  37 
Apostles,  ancient  and  modern, 

105,  106,  160 
Arabia,  47 
Argentina,  121 
Armenians,  an  eastern  sect,  42, 

44  . 
Asiatics,  relation  to  Occidental 

Churches,  161,  171,  185,  186, 

189,  191 
Attap  or  nipa-palm,  used   for 

thatching,  40 

B 

Bangkok,  Christian  College, 
79,  no;  girls'  school,  no 

Baptist  Board  (American  or 
Northern),  favors  coopera- 
tion, 199 

Baptist  churches  (Southern), 
guardedly  approve  of  co- 
operation, 201,  202 

Barbaric  forebears,  our,  3 

Barbour,  Sir  David,  quoted  on 
Dr.  Chen,  7 

Barotac,  Filipino  preacher  at, 
94 

Barton,  Rev.  James  L.,  views 
of,  on  cooperation,  200 

Beirut,  ^ Syrian  Protestant  Col- 
lege in,  122 

Beneficent  work  of  Christian 
missions,  recognition  of,  106- 
no.  See  also  Philanthropic 
work 

Bible,  47,  81,  82,  102,  T47-I5O, 
192;  schools,  study,  and 
training  classes,  82,  83 


227 


228 


INDEX 


Bible  and   Christ  Asiatic,   192 
Bishop  of  Oxford's  views  on 

"Anglican    color"    in    India, 

196 

Boardman,    Dr.,   at   Tavoy,   36 
Bolivia,  121 
Boniface  among  German  tribes, 

3 

Boon  Itt,  financial  sacrifice,  86 
Boxer's  conversion  and  confes- 
sion in  Pingyang-fu,  77 
Boycott,  early  use  of  the,  61 
Brahman  mysticism,  38 
Brazil,         121 ;         independent 

Church   in,    172 
Briggs,    Rev.    C.    W.,    Baptist 

missionary  in  Jaro,  93 
British    East    India    Company 

unfavorable  to  missions,  106 
British  missions,  137 
Buddhism  difficult  to  reach,  39 
Buddhist  legend,  41 
Buencamino       Senor      Felipe, 

quoted,  14 

Bunker,  Rev.  D.  A.,  quoted,  in 
Burma,  35,  39,  104;  Judson  and 

Price  in,  31 
Burmans,  15 
Burmese  Buddhism,  39 
Burns,  Robert,  Carlyle's  Essay 

on,  referred  to  and  quoted,  4 


Calcutta,  39 

Canton,  porters'  hard  life,  20; 

philanthropic         institutions, 

156,   157,  165 
Capen,  E.  C.,  referred  to,  no, 

168 
"Capitulations,"      in      Turkey, 

abrogated,  63 
Caracas,    Venezuela,    converts, 

86 

Carey,  William,  31 
Carlyle,  Thomas,  quoted,  4,  19 
Catherine  of  Sienna,  quoted,  21 
Central  America,  121 


Chalmers,  James,  120 
Changing  Chinese,  The,  quoted, 

21 

Chatter jee,  Rev.  K.  C.,  quoted, 

170;  referred  to,  184 
Chefoo,  Christians  in,  84; 

social  work  in,  157 
Chen,  Dr.,  ability  as  financier, 

7 

Chieng-mai,  Buddhist  convert 
at,  40;  growth  of  church  at, 
119;  King  aids  mission  col- 
lege at,  no;  work  for  lepers 
at,  157 

Chile,  121 

China,  burden-bearers,  20,  21 ; 
independent  churches,  172 ; 
mission  statistics,  114,  124; 
official  interest  in  Chris- 
tianity, 114,  115;  remarkable 
revival,  205 ;  roads,  162 ; 
self-governing  spirit,  194 

Chinese,  7,  8 

Chinese  Revolution,  The,  re- 
ferred to,  7 

Chosen,  55.    See  Korea 

Christ.     See  Jesus  Christ 

Christian  leaders  in  non-Chris- 
tian lands,  96,  104,  105 

Christian  life,  requirements 
and  tests  of,  51,  52,  162 

Christian  Missions  and  Social 
Progress,  referred  to,  168 

"Christian"  sects  or  clans 
lacking  the  Christ  spirit,  42- 

44 

Christian  Work,  quoted,  201 
Christian      work     in      foreign 

lands,   some  details  of,    184, 

I8.5. 
Christianity,    advance   unnoted 

in  mission  lands,  I ;  forces  in 
opposition,  72;  not  easily 
grasped  by  the  Oriental 
mind,  28;  regenerating  and 
transforming  power,  3-6 
Christmas  Carol,  by  Dickens, 
quoted,  7 


INDEX 


Chtmdra    Lela,    evangelist    in 

India,  96 
Church      Missionary      Society, 

The,  195 

Church  of  Christ  in  Japan,  193 
Church,    the,    denned,    23,    24. 

See     also     Home     Church, 

Native^  Church 
Civilization,  ancestral  lack  of, 

3 ;     India's     claims,     ancient 

and   medieval,   9 
Cleanliness  follows  conversion, 

78,  79 
Clough,  Rev.  John  E.,  among 

the  Telugus,  161,  168 
Colombia,  121 

Comparisons  of  civilizations,  3 
Compassion,     a     characteristic 

Christian   spirit,   21,  22 
Confucianism,  37 
Congregational    board    favors 

cooperation,  200.    See  Ameri- 
can Board 

Consecrated  leaders  for  train- 
ing schools  needed,  180 
Continental  missions,  138 
Conversion,    proofs    of,    76-79 
Converts,     in     Roman    empire 

and  in  modern  missions,  104 
Copts,  an  eastern  sect,  43,  44 
Cousins,  H.  T.,  referred  to,  96 
Creeds  of  native  churches,  189, 

190;  values  in  western  views, 

195 
Crowther,  Bishop,  referred  to, 

06 
Cust,  Robert  Needham,  quoted, 

on     the     missionary's     only 

duty,   156 

D 

Damrong,    Prince,    appreciates 

Christian  schools,  79 
Dealings    of    western    nations 

with  Africa  and  Asia  evil,  68 
Dehli.  grandeur  of,  9 
Dennis,  James  S.,  referred  to, 

no,    168 


Denominational  showing  in 
Christian  growth  in  India, 
116 

Denominationalism,  opinions 
on,  196-198 

Dickens,  Charles,  quoted,  7 

Difficulties,  51 ;  ten  peculiar  to 
converts  in  non-Christian 
lands,  52-72 

Ding  Li  Mei,  Chinese  evan- 
gelist, 151 

"Direct   Christian  work,"    163 

Disciples'  board  favors  co- 
operation, 200 

Discipline  by  natives,  175 

Donohugh,  Thomas  S.,  re- 
fered  to,  117 

Double  moral  standard  in 
United  States,  56 

Druses,  an  eastern  sect,  43 

Duff,  Alexander,  31 

Dunlap,  Rev.  Eugene  P.,  in 
Siam,  76,  78,  79 

Duty  of  the  missionary,  former 
views  of,  154;  more  recent 
convictions,  156-164 


East  Indian  peoples,  9 

Eclipse  foretold  by  mission- 
aries, 40 

Ecuador,  121 

Educational  work,  30,  47,  no- 
113,  122,  135-137,  179-iSi 

Efulen,  Africa,  "Jesus  men"  in, 

87 
Egypt  and   Egyptians,   42,   45; 

mission  growth,  119 
Eliot,  George,  quoted,  5 
Ellinwood,  Rev.  F.  F.,  quoted, 

191 
England  when  evangelized  by 

Augustine,  3 

Epidemics  suppressed,  107 
Essay   on   Prevailing  Methods 

of  the  Evangelisation  of  the 

Non-Christian  World,  quoted, 

156 


230 


INDEX 


Eurasian   Christians,   116 
Europe,    190,    191.      See    also 

Continental  missions 
European  war,  86;  a  result  of 

not    accepting    Christ's    law, 

68;   effect  on  missions,   137, 

138 
Evangelistic  work,  30,   33,   34, 

36,  45,  103-105,  in,  1 17-121, 

145-152 
Evangelizing  as  distinct  from 

Christianizing,  143 


Faith,  call  for  a  larger,  191 
Faunce,  W.  H.  P.,  no,  168 
Filipinos,  13,  93,  120 
Financial     sacrifice,     instances 

of,  86 
Fish  in  Burma  and  Siam,   15, 

16,   39 
Fitness     for     self-government, 

175,    186,   187 
Folk-lore  of  Karens,  35 
Foreign     control     undesirable, 

170 
Foreigner  disliked  and  feared, 

70,  71 

Fortitude  under  persecution,  92 
Foster,   Hon.  John  W.,   on  Li 

Hung  Chang,  8 

Fraser,  A.  G.,  and  social  serv- 
ice. 162 
Fraser,  Sir  A.  H.  L.,  quoted,  on 

India's  lower  classes,  10;  on 

the  Indian  Church,   117;  on 

native  Christians,  80 
Fruits  in  Siam,  39 
Fruits,  spiritual,  a  test  of  faith, 

75 


Geddie,  John,  104 

Gibson,  Rev.  J.  Campbell,  of 
Swatow,  quoted,  on  Chinese 
Church,  114;  on  Christian 
life  in  China,  212,  213 

Gilmour,  James,  31 


Gifts  from  Siam's  rulers,   no 

Giving,  138,  141 ;  character 
shown  in,  85 

Gladstone,  W.  E.,  quoted,  on 
liberty,  173 

God,  5,  21,  27,  29,  36;  false  or 
inadequate  views  of,  27,  53, 
54;  true  revelation  of,  27, 
33,  49;  working  not  wholly 
dependent  on  means,  204-206 

Gorst,  quoted  on  Europe's  in- 
tercourse with  China,  70 

Gospel  of  Mark,  83,  148 

Great  Britain,  denominations 
in,  197 

Greek   sectaries   at   Jerusalem, 

44 
Greene,    Rev.    Daniel    Crosby, 

"3,  152 

Greetings,  215,  216 
Griffin,  Z.  F.,  referred  to,  96 
Griffis,  William  E.,  39,  95 
Growth  in  grace,  88,  89 

H 

Habeeb,   a   Syrian  convert,  95 

Hail,  Rev.  J.  B.,  gives  account 
of  aged  Japanese  convert  and 
preacher,  149 

Halideh  Hanem,  of  Constanti- 
nople American  Girls'  Col- 
lege, 13 

Hall,  Dr.  M.  J.,  34 

Halsey,  Rev.  A.  W.,  speaks  of 
work  in  Africa,  77,  142 

Hamilton,  Angus,  quoted,  69, 
70 

Hardy,  Arthur  S.,  referred  to, 
96 

Harrow  School,  young  Siamese 
at,  12 

Hawaii,   120 

Hayashi,  Count,  113 

Hayes,  Rev.  Watson  M.,  at 
Tsinan,  62 

"Heathen,"  2,  6 

"Helpers,"  177,  178 

Helping    believers    in    mission 


INDEX 


231 


field  as  our  yotmger  brothers, 
213 
Henderson  and  Watt,  quoted, 

3 

Hepburn,  Dr.  James  C,  31,  113 
Hereford,   Rev.   and  Mrs.   W. 

F.,  in  Japan,  165 
Heroism  required  of  disciples, 

5i 

Higginbottom,  Mr.  Sam,  and 
social  service,  162 

Hindu  caste,  37 

Hinghwa,  Fukien,  converts,  76 

History  of  European  Morals, 
quoted,  I 

Holy  Sepulcher  church,  Arme- 
nian procession  and  unseem- 
ly temper,  44 

Holy  Spirit,  the,  6,  36,  73,  77, 
78,  89,  95,  106,  173,  175,  181, 
191,  203,  209 

Home  Church  or  churches,  19, 
24,  25,  30,  103,  143-146,  171, 

173,    177,    202 

Home  life  among  non-Chris- 
tian peoples,  78 

Honda,  Bishop,  95;  quoted  on 
continued  work  in  Japan,  213 

Hoskins,  Rev.  F.  E.,  quoted,  47 

"How  the  Lutherans  Look  at 
Christian  Unity,"  201 

Hsi  Liang,  Viceroy,  oration  of 
at  Jackson  memorial  service, 
106 


Imbrie,  Rev.  William,  of 
Tokyo,  quoted,  112 

Imperfections  of  Christians  in 
the  mission  field,  97 

Independent  churches  in  non- 
Christian  lands,  172,  193 

India.  Anglican  color  undesir- 
able in,  196 ;  mass  move- 
ments, 104,  116,  117;  mission 
statistics,  116,  124,  214,-  the 
people,  9,  10;  white  travelers 
in,  70 


Indolence  in  tropical  countries* 
one  cause  of,  39,  40 

Influence  and  strength  of  mis- 
sion churches,  106 

Institutional  funds,  question  of 
administering,  185,  186 


Jackson,  Dr.  A.  F.,  107-109 

Jacobites,  an  eastern  sect,  43, 
44 

Japan  Daily  Mail,  quoted  on 
work  of  Protestant  missions, 
106 

Japan,  mission  statistics,  m- 
113,  124,  213;  semi-centennial 
of  Protestant  missions,  106; 
social  work,  157 

Japanese,  8,  38,  39,  54 

Japanese  criticism  of  Ameri- 
can Christians,  71 

Japanese  pastor  in  a  sorrowing 
home,  149 

Jerusalem,    warring    sects    in, 

43,  44 

Jessup,  Rev.  Henry  H.,  quoted, 
46,  120,  122;  referred  to,  95 

Jesus  Christ,  4,  29,  39,  44,  71, 
86,  105,  117,  175,  191;  an 
Asiatic,  192 ;  as  Savior,  23, 
49,  161 ;  manifesting  God,  21 ; 
proclaimed,  36,  143,  150;  re- 
ceived and  witnessed  to,  30, 

45,  76,  97,  131,   142,  I47-I.52. 

2O2,  211 ;  social  and  uplifting 

power,  18,  19,  21,  22,  159,  160- 

168 

"Jesus  men"  in  Africa,  87 
Jews   offered   an   opening   for 

Paul's  work,  27,  143 
Judson,  Adoniram,  31 

K 
Kameruns,  churches  in  the,  118, 

129,   141,   142 

Kamil,  Moslem  convert,  95 
Karens,  of  Burma,  35,  36,  104 


232 


INDEX 


Kerr,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  G., 
156,  165 

Kiating-fu  meetings,  79 

Kidd,  Benjamin,  quoted,  5,  64 

Kim  Chung-sik,  early  Korean 
Christian,  34,  35 

Kingdom,  our  Lord's,  104 

Kingsley,  Miss  Mary,  quoted 
on  African  qualities,  15 

Ko  Tha  Byu,  first  Karen  con- 
vert, 36 

Korea,  adults  in  Sunday-school, 
82;  Angus  Hamilton  in,  69, 
70;  conditions  and  incidents, 
30-34 ;  independent  church  in, 
172;  medical  missions,  156; 
mission  statistics  and  work 
by  natives,  no,  in,  152;  re- 
vivals, 205 

Koreans,  10-12 

Kyoto,  "barbarians"  warned  to 
leave,  39 


Laos  martyrs,  41,  42 

Latin   America,   conditions   in, 

66,  121 
Lawrence,  Edward  A.,  quoted, 

25 

Lawrence,  Lord,  quoted,  117 
Leaders,       prominent      native 

Christian,  96 
Lecky,  quoted,  I 
Legend,     Siamese,     helps     the 

gospel,  41 
Leper  girl's  evangelistic  work, 

ISI 
Lepers,  care  of  and  work  for, 

107,  157 
Liberty    prepares    for    liberty, 

.173 
Li  Hung-chang,   diary  quoted, 

70;     Hon.    J.    W.    Foster's 

opinion  of,  8 
Livingstone  a  pioneer,  31 ;  his 

gospel,  163 
"Loaves  and  fishes"  motive  to 

be  guarded  against,  128 


Loyalty  a  proof  of  conversion. 
87 

Lutheran  Church,  favors  co- 
operation, 200,  201 

M 

Mackay,  Rev.  G.  L.,  quoted  on 
Negro  qualities,  14 

McGilvary,  Daniel,  31 

McKean,  Dr.  James  W.,  of 
Siam,  157 

"Man  with  the  Hoe,  The," 
quotation  from,  20 

Manchuria,  grief  for  Dr.  Jack- 
son, 108,  109 

Markham,  Edwin,  quoted,  20 

Maronites,  an  eastern  sect,  43 

Marriage  in  Asia,  57 

Martyn,  Henry,  31 ;  quoted  on 
Brahman  conversion,  38 

Martyrs,  41,  42,  93 

Mass  movements,  104,  in,  116- 
118 

Medical  work,  30,  107-109,  155- 
157,  163,  167,  168 

Memoirs  of  Li  Hung  Chang, 
quoted  on  effect  of  Chris- 
tianity on  Japanese,  89-92 

Messianic  idea  of  the  Gentiles, 
27 

Methodist  Episcopal  Board 
(Southern),  favors  coopera- 
tion, 200 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church  at 
Rangoon,  87 

Methodist  Review,  article  re- 
ferred to,  117 

Mexico,  121 ;  independent 
church  in,  172 

Mills,  Mrs.  Annetta  L.,  work 
of,  157,  165 

Mission  Problems  and  Mission 
Methods  in  South  China, 
quoted,  72,  213 

Mission  work  of  mission 
churches,  152 

Missionaries  help  their  fellow 
men,  19 


233 


Missionary  work  of  Paul,  25- 
28 

Modern  Missions  in  the  East, 
quoted,  25 

Moffett,  Rev.  Samuel  A.,  34, 
152 

Mohammedans,  conditions  of 
work  among,  45-47,  122 

Money,  the  place  of,  in  mission 
work,  208 

Moody,  D.  L.,  quoted,  52 

Morimura  Ichizaimon,  Chris- 
tian experience  of  Mr.,  150 

Morphine  importers  converted, 

77  . 

Morrison,  Robert,  31 
Moslem  lands,  45-47,  122 
Mott,  Dr.  John  R.,  quoted  on 

mission  needs,  209 
Municipal       government       in 

America,  68 

N 

Nan  Chai,  Lao  martyr,  41,  42 
Nan  Inta,  early  Lao  convert,  40 
Nationalism  in  Japan,  38,  54 
Nationality  affects  experience, 

94,  95 

Native  Christians  and  workers, 
employment  and  compensa- 
tion, 140;  high  character  of 
in  India,  80;  indispensable 
to  mission  success,  145,  146; 
question  of  salaries,  130-134 
Native  Church  or  churches,  24, 
*S,  52,  87,  88,  114-117,  123, 
139,  146,  161,  164,  168-203, 
211,  212 

Neesima,  Joseph  Hardy,  96 
Negro    qualities,    14,    15 
Nelson,  William  S.,  referred  to, 

95 

Nestorians,  an  eastern  sect,  42 

New  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  The, 
104 

New  Forces  in  Old  China,  re- 
ferred to,  7 

New  Guinea,  120 


New  Hebrides,   104,  120 
New  standards  of  life,  58 
New  Testament  churches  and 
those    in    the    mission    field, 
2ii,  212,  215,  216 
Niles,  Dr.  Mary,  157 
Nobel   Prize,  9 

Non-Christians,      unjust     con- 
demnation of,  19 
Nsi  Su  Ya,  Lao  martyr,  41,  42 
Nusairiyeh,  an  eastern  sect,  43 

O 

Object  of  foreign  missionary 
work,  23,  24 

Obstacles,  encountered,  37,  38; 
to  independent  churches,  172, 
173 ;  to  self-support,  127-140 

Occupations  in  China,  20 

Okuma,  Count,  address  of,  106; 
quoted  on  effect  of  Chris- 
tian teaching,  113 

Old  Wang,  Chinese  evangelist, 
96 

Oldham,  Mr.  J.  H.,  quoted, 
68 

Oriental  mind,  the,  and  Chris- 
tianity, 28 


Page,  J.,  referred  to,  96 
Palestine,  43,  47 
Pantheism,  54 
Pastor  Hsi,   96 
Paton,  John  G.,  31,  120 
Patriarch,    Armenian,    44 
Patrick  in  Ireland,  3 
Patriotism  as  a  cult,  54 
Patton,  Francis  L.,  referred  to, 

26 

Paul,  apostle  of  the  Congo,  06 
Paul,  New  Testament  apostle. 
3,  25-28,  143,  159,  190,  215 ;  a 
Roman  citizen,  26 
Pauperizing,   danger  of,    129 
Permanent  dependence  of  mis- 
sion boards,  the  only,  208 


234 


INDEX 


Persecution,   40,   93,    152;   and 

the  New  Testament,  81 
Persia  and  Persians,  31,  42,  45, 

47,  132 
Personal    work    at    home    and 

in  the  foreign  field,  147,  148 
Peru,  121 
Petchaburi    hospital,    gifts    to, 

no 

Pharisees  rebuked,  60,  61 
Philanthropic   work,    106,    162- 

168 

Philippine  Islands,  66,  67,  120 
Piementel,    Filipino    Christian, 

93 
Pierson,    Arthur    T.,    quoted, 

93,  104 

Pingyang,    Korea,    persecution 

in,  34 
Pingyang-fu,     China,     Boxer's 

conversion  in,   77 
Pioneers   in   missionary  work, 

31 

Pneumonic  plague  in  China, 
107-109 

Populations  of  some  occupied 
lands  and  proportion  of 
Christians  in,  124,  214 

Poverty  in  China  and  Korea, 
40 

Prayer  and  consecration  essen- 
tial at  home,  208,  209 

Prayer  life  of  converts,  83-85 

Prejudice  and  social  service, 
166 

Presbyterian  Board  (North- 
ern), 86;  favors  cooperation, 
198,  199 

Presbyterians  (Southern),  fa- 
vor cooperation,  200 

Price,  Jonathan,  pioneer  in 
Burma,  31 

Prisoners  study  the  New 
Testament,  81,  82 

Problems,  176,  183,  186 

Progress,  comparative,  101-104 

Prolific  nature  and  indolence 
in  the  tropics,  30 


Protestant  work,  in  Japan,  106; 
in  Latin  America,  121 ;  in  the 
Philippines,  120 

Puket's  Siamese  governor  ap- 
proves mission  work,  79 

Q 

Qualities,  of  Christians  in  the 
mission  field,  210,  21 1;  re- 
sulting from  Christian  train- 
ing, 79 

Quelpart,  a  Korean  missionary 
to,  152 

R 

Rabindranath  Tagore,  9 

Race  superiority,  5 

Reading,   old-time    Sunday,    59 

Receipts  on  the  mission  field, 
140,  141 

Receptive  peoples,  32 

"Relation  of  Church  and  Mis- 
sion in  Japan,  The,"  referred 
to,  193 

Relationship  of  the  self-gov- 
erning Church  a  problem, 
183,  186 

Religion  as  a  form,  65,  66 

Religions  in  India,  census  of, 
116 

Remensnyder,  Rev.  Junius  B., 
quoted,  200 

Repentance  a  test,  76-78 

Republicanism  struggling  in 
China,  194,  195 

Richards,  Henry,  referred  to, 
96 

Rio  de  Janeiro,  121 

Roll  of  honor,  native  Chris- 
tian, 95,  96 

Roman  Catholic  Church,  66, 
116,  206 

Roman  empire,  converts  in,  104 

Roosevelt,  Theodore,  referred 
to,  26 

Ross,  E.  A.,  quoted,  20,  21 

Ross,  Rev.  John,  referred  to, 
96,  148 

Ruskin,  John,  quoted,  6 


INDEX 


235 


Sabbath  observance,  59 
Salaries  of  native  workers,  134, 

135 

Salvation  Army  work,  157 

Sato  and  his  son  visit  Li  Hung 
Chang,  89-^92 

Sau  Kyung-jo,  149 

Scales    of    living   differ,    128 

Scotch  Presbyterian  Mission, 
107 

Scotland  of  To-day,  quoted,  3 

Scottish    peasant's    life,    4 

Self-government  for  rising 
Churches,  the  native  side,  170 

Self-propagation  a  duty,  143 ;  a 
necessity,  144 

Self-support  a  fundamental 
need,  127,  129,  131,  137;  en- 
couraging facts,  151,  152;  ex- 
amples, 140;  list  of  books  on, 
141 

Seoul,  34,  35;  prayer-meeting 
in,  84 

Seward,  Hon.  George  F., 
quoted  on  opening  of  Siam, 
109 

Shakespeare,  quoted,  6 

Shanghai,  conditions  in,  19; 
social  work  in,  157 

Shidiak,  Asaad,  Syrian  martyr, 

93 

Shmtoism,  37 

Siam,  church  acts  in  a  gam- 
bling case,  174;  mission 
statistics,  119;  schools  re- 
ceive gifts,  110;  social  work 
in,  109;  white  travelers  in, 
70 

Siamese,  12;  causes  of  indo- 
lence, 39;  legend  helps  the 
gospel,  41 ;  village  converts, 
75;  well-to-do  people,  40 

Sins  of  cities  the  same,  19 

Social  Aspects  of  Foreign 
Missions.  168 

Social  Christianity  in  the 
Orient,  168 


Social  Evolution,  quoted,  64 
Social   service,    apostolic,    160; 
in    Christ's    preaching,     167, 
1 68;  necessity  for,  155 
Social  or  philanthropic  work  in 
foreign    lands,    155-168,    184, 
185;  statistics,  163,  164.    See 
also  Philanthropic  work 
Sociological  Progress  in  Mis- 
sion Lands,  168 

Sorai,  Korea,  model  village,  148 
South  America,  121 
South  Sea  Islands,  31,  120 
Sovereignty  of  the  people,  192 
Stanley,  Henry  M.,  118 
Starting  the  Church,  24,  25 
Statistics,  meaning  of,  99,  123 ; 
philanthropic       and       social 
work,  163,  164;  self-support, 
140,    141 ;    some   populations, 
124,     214;      world     mission 
totals,  loo.    See  also  separate 
fields,      as      Africa,     Latin 
America 

Students  in  America  from  non- 
Christian  lands,  135,  137 
Sunday-schools,  82,  121 
Sunday  service  at  Iloilo,  88 
Sunday,  the  old-time  New  Eng- 
land, 59 

Superstition,  53-56 
Syria,  and  Syrians,  42,  47 
Syriacs,  an  eastern  sect,  43,  44 


Taj  Mahal,  the,  9 

Taylor,  Mrs.  H.,  referred  to, 
96 

Telugu  mission,   104 

Temptations  or  testings,  51-72 

Test,  endurance  under  perse- 
cution a,  02 

Teutons  in  Caesar's  time,  3 

Thoburn,  Bishop  James  M.,  in 
India,  116;  quoted,  87 

Times,  The,  London,  quoted 
on  missionary  statistics,  115 


236 


INDEX 


Tiyo  Soga,  of  South  Africa, 
96 

Training  of  native  leaders,  179, 
180 

Transformed    lives,    79 

Travels  in  West  Africa,  15 

Tripoli,  Syria,  46       , 

Truthfulness,    58 

Turkey,  43,  45,  63,    132 

Turkish   "capitulations,"  63 

Turks,  12,   13 

Two  views  of  missions,  106 

Tyler,  Josiah,  pioneer  in  South 
Africa,  31 

Types,  national,  195 ;  of  con- 
verts, 210;  of  experience,  94 

Typical,  non-Christian  house, 
78;  peoples,  7-16 


U 

Uemura,  Mr.,  of  Tokyo,  quoted 
on  self-reliance  of  Japanese 
Christianity,    175 
Uganda,  Africa,  104,  Il8 
Un  Ho,  leper  girl,  151 
Unchristian  conduct,  68-71 
Underwood,  Horace  G.,  34 
Unfinished  task,  the,  123,  124 
Union  and  cooperation  recom- 
mended,   198-202 
United  Free  Church  Magazine, 

referred  to,  96 
United   States,   24,   56,   66,   71, 

144;  denominations  in,  197 
Unity  and  Missions,  202 


Vaccination,  107 

Venezuela,  121 

Verbeck,  Rev.  Guido  F.,  re- 
ferred to,  31,  113 

"Vestiges  of  Heathenism  with- 
in the  Church  in  the  Mission 
Field,"  referred  to,  56 

Vices  non-Christian  world,   18 

Vitality,  test  cf,  146 


W 

Wages  in  Asia  of  the  common 

people,  140,  186 

War,  effect  on  missions  of  the 
present.     See  European  war 
Warneck,    Professor   Joh.,    re- 
ferred to,  56 
Water  of  life,  the,  47-49 
Watson,    Dr.    Charles    R.,    de- 
scribes Halideh  Hanem,  13; 
on     spiritual     life     in     the 
Egyptian  Church,  88 
Wealth,  the  missionary's  com- 
parative,   128 
West    Africa    Mission    in    the 

Kameruns,  118 
White  man  in  Asia,  The,  27 
Whittier,  John  G.,  quoted,  22 
Why    and    How    of    Foreign 

Missions,  The,  145 
Witnesses,  149,  150,  211 
Wives     among     non-Christian 

peoples,  77,  78 
Wolff,  Rev.  Joseph,  in  Tripoli, 

Syria,  46 

Woman,    inferiority   a   funda- 
mental view  in  non-Christian 
lands,  55,  59 ;  position  changed 
by  Christianity,  78 
Womanhood  transfigured,  17 
Worcester,  Dean  C,  quoted  on 

Filipino  people,  13 
Work,  varied  forms  of,  30 
Working  church,   the  best,   87 
World  Missionary  Conference, 
in    Edinburgh,    referred    to, 
209 

Wretchedness      appalling      in 
non-Christian  lands,  19,  20 


Yokohama,  early  Protestantism 
in,  38 

Yuan  Shih-kai,  and  Confu- 
cianism, 62;  qualifications  of, 
8;  receives  deputation,  115; 
referred  to,  194 


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The  Forward  Mission  Study  Courses  are  an  outgrowth  of 
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used  by  more  than  forty  home  and  foreign  mission  boards  and 
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The  aim  is  to  publish  a  series  of  text-books  covering  the 
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The  following  text-books  having  a  sale  of  over  1,500,000  have 
been  published : 

1.  THE  PRICE  OF  AFRICA.    Biographical.    By  S.  Earl  Taylor. 

2.  INTO  ALL  THE  WORLD.    A  general  survey  of  missions.    By 
Amos  R.  Wells. 

3.  PRINCELY  MEN  IN  THE  HEAVENLY  KINGDOM.    Biographical. 
By  Harlan  P.  Beach. 

4.  SUNRISE  IN  THE  SUNRISE  KINGDOM.    Revised  Edition.     A 
study  of  Japan.    By  John  H.  DeForest. 

5.  HEROES  OF  THE  CROSS  IN  AMERICA.    Home  Missions.    Bio- 
graphical.   By  Don  O.  Shelton. 

6.  DAYBREAK  IN  THE  DARK  CONTINENT.    Revised  Edition.    A 
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7.  THE  CHRISTIAN  CONQUEST  OF  INDIA.     A  study  of  India. 
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8.  ALIENS   OR   AMERICANS?     A   study   of    Immigration.     By 
Howard  B.  Grose. 

9.  THE   UPLIFT   OF   CHINA.     Revised   Edition.     A   study   of 
China.    By  Arthur  H.  Smith. 

ip.    THE  CHALLENGE  OF  THE  CITY.    A  study  of  the  City.    By 
Josiah  Strong. 

11.  THE  WHY  AND  How  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS.    A  study  of 
the  relation  of  the  home  Church  to  the  foreign  missionary  enter- 
prise.   By  Arthur  J.  Brown. 

12.  THE   MOSLEM    WORLD.     A   study   of   the   Mohammedan 
world.    By  Samuel  M.  Zwemer. 

13.  THE  FRONTIER.     A  study  of  the  New  West     By  Ward 
Platt. 

14.  SOUTH  AMERICA:    Its  Missionary  Problems.    A  study  of 
South  America.    By  Thomas  B.  Neely. 

15.  THE  UPWARD  PATH  :    The  Evolution  of  a  Race.    A  study 
of  the  Negro.    By  Mary  Helm. 

16.  KOREA  IN  TRANSITION.    A  study  of  Korea.    By  James  S. 
Gale. 

17.  ADVANCE  IN  THE  ANTILLES.    A  study  of  Cuba  and  Porto 
Rico.     By  Howard  B.  Grose. 

18.  THE  DECISIVE  HOUR  OF  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS.     A  study 
of  conditions  throughout  the  non-Christian  world.    By  John  R. 
Mott. 

19.  INDIA   AWAKENING.     A   study   of   present   conditions   in 
India.    By  Sherwood  Eddy. 

20.  THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  OPEN  COUNTRY.     A  study  of  the 
problem  of  the  Rural  Church.    By  Warren  H.  Wilson. 

21.  THE  CALL  OF  THE  WORLD.    A  survey  of  conditions  at  home 
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22.  THE  EMERGENCY  IN  CHINA.    A  study  of  present-day  con- 
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23.  MEXICO   TO-DAY  :     Social.    Political,   and   Religious    Con- 
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George  B.  Winton. 


24.  IMMIGRANT   FORCES.     A   study  of   the   immigrant  in   his 
home  and  American  environment.    By  William  P.  Shriver. 

25.  THE  NEW  ERA  IN  ASIA.     Contrast  of  early  and  present 
conditions  in  the  Orient.    By  Sherwood  Eddy. 

26.  THE  SOCIAL  ASPECTS  OF  FOREIGN  MISSIONS.    A  study  of 
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ments   and    social   program    of    home   missions.     By    H.    Paul 
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28.  THE  AMERICAN  INDIAN  ON  THE  NEW  TRAIL.    A  story  of 
the  Red  Men  of  the  United  States  and  the  Christian  gospel.    By 
Thomas  C.  Moffett. 

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individual  in  the  local  church  and  his  relation  to  the  social  mes- 
sage of  the  gospel.    By  Shailer  Mathews. 

30.  RISING  CHURCHES  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS.    A  study  of 
the  native  Church  and  its  development  in  the  foreign  mission 
field.    By  Arthur  J.  Brown. 

31.  THE  CHURCHES  AT  WORK.    A  statement  of  the  work  of  the 
churches    in   the   local   community   in   the   United    States.     By 
Charles  L.  White. 

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— four  conditions  of  efficiency.    By  W.  E.  Doughty. 

In  addition  to  the  above  courses,  the  following  have  been  pub- 
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2.  SERVANTS  OF  THE  KING.     A  series  of  eleven  sketches  of 
famous  home  and  foreign  missionaries.    By  Robert  E.  Speer. 

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8.  COMRADES  IN  SERVICE.    Eleven  brief  biographies  of  Chris- 
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